US Forest Service Chief tells employees to expect lower appropriated funds for 2024 budget; 'We've been planning for that reality,' but recent pay raise, higher operating costs means agency is facing funding gaps for salaries, IT needs, other expenses

Over the past couple of years, the Forest Service has made a concerted effort to recruit and hire new, talented staff to conduct our crucial work. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, Congress awarded us historic funding and commensurate expectations for historic results.

These capacity increases have led to significant progress in achieving the objectives of major initiatives like the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, as well as record levels of contracts, grants and agreements executed with a wide array of partners. We have renewed our commitment to equity in our work, working with tribes and underrepresented communities to enact meaningful projects in the communities we serve.

I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and grateful to all of you for the incredible work you do. I also know you’re impacted by the uncertainty that continuing resolutions and possible shutdowns bring. You are probably hearing the debates in Congress about the federal budget and wondering what that means for the Forest Service. While we don’t have our final FY2024 budget yet and are operating under a continuing resolution through March 8, I want to be up front with you about what we’re seeing for Fiscal Year 2024.  

All signals point to lower appropriated funds for our budget in 2024. We’ve been planning for that reality. However, there are some changed circumstances that we didn’t anticipate. The first is something I’m really pleased about—federal employees received a 5.2% cost of living adjustment pay raise this year. That is wonderful news, but the increase must be absorbed by our existing agency and departmental funds. In addition to the pay raise, we have found costs of operation are higher than we initially anticipated. No doubt you and your families are feeling the impacts of inflation, and we are seeing that as our project costs go up as well. 

All this means we are facing gaps in funding for our salaries, information technology needs, and other expenses. We will need to consider strategies to address those gaps under this constrained budget.

Right now, USDA is developing budget planning guidelines. These will be provided to us, and we will use them to modify our operations through a thoughtful, measured approach to ensure sustainability of agency operations while maintaining our commitment to well-being: yours, forests, and the communities we serve. Our budget and finance staff will tailor recommended actions to mitigate the effects on all of you as much as possible.

As always, you have done a remarkable job stewarding our nation’s forests and grasslands. In the last few years, we have managed our budget and strengthened our workforce as we took on an enormous increase in work and funding. Growing our workforce was the right thing to do to rise to this challenge. You have all met these increased challenges with professionalism and the high standards our public expects. We will manage any attrition strategically, focusing hiring on meeting highest priority needs. While we always planned an ultimate return to a financially sustainable level of personnel before BIL and IRA funds expired, all the above factors mean we must implement those planned actions sooner than we intended.

We will know more once we’ve received additional guidance from the department and our final 2024 budget, and we will share updates with you in our rescheduled all-employee call March 27. Thank you for your patience, your commitment to service and, as always, thank you for all you do.

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