Brad White

Colorado Fire Chief Brad White, of Grand Fire Protection District No. 1, says he’s worried “there’s not a lot of extra help to be had this summer.” Mass layoffs and voluntary resignation programs under the Trump administration have reshaped federal agencies, like the U.S. Forest Service, that typically work in close coordination with local and state officials to not only battle wildfires but prepare for and protect against them. Colorado is made up of vast swathes of federal land. The U.S. Forest Service alone owns about one-fifth of the state’s land, with most of that in the mountains, where the federal government is the largest landowner in many counties. But federal land management agencies have shed thousands of employees in just six months. …Colorado officials are concerned that these cuts could disrupt years of wildfire preparedness and make the state more vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires.