Trump Administration Cut Labs That Studied Wildfires

The Trump administration has been closing government labs that studied wildfires and the harm they can cause. These labs looked at how wildfire smoke affects people's health, the air we breathe, animals, and forests. Some scientists say the closures could make it harder to keep people safe from wildfires — and those fears grew stronger on Friday, when thick smoke spread across large parts of the United States.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, the government has nearly shut down its entire scientific research office. That office spent more than ten years studying how pollutants — including wildfire smoke — affect human health. When President Trump came back to office in January 2025, scientists there were looking at dangerous chemicals in wildfire smoke, such as toxic metals like copper, lead, and zinc.

The EPA's research office also ran one of the only labs in the world that did 'controlled human-exposure studies.' In these studies, volunteers would breathe in wildfire smoke while scientists watched them closely for signs of chest pain, breathing problems, and other health effects. That lab was shut down last summer, ending a one-of-a-kind research program.

Bryan Hubbell, a scientist who left the EPA research office last year, warned about what the closures could mean. He now works at a research group called Resources for the Future. 'Eliminating the Office of Research and Development and its national research programs means there is likely to be less organized and strategic research to address threats from wildfire smoke,' he said.

The U.S. Forest Service has also been hit with big cuts. The administration has proposed closing 57 out of 77 Forest Service research labs across the country. The plan is part of a reorganization that would move the agency's main office from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Two of the labs set to close did especially important work. One lab, located in Seattle, created real-time maps that tracked where wildfire smoke was moving. Firefighters and local governments used these maps to make decisions and keep communities safe. Another lab, in Wenatchee, Washington, studied controlled burns — planned fires that can help reduce the risk of bigger, more dangerous wildfires and restore forests and wildlife habitats.

Leaders at both the EPA and the Forest Service have pushed back on the criticism. Forest Service chief Tom Schultz told The New York Times in April, 'There's a strong commitment to research and to science in the reorganization.' EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said on Friday that his agency was tracking smoke from Canadian wildfires blowing into the United States, and that people could check air quality through two online tools: the Air Quality Index and AirNow's Fire and Smoke Map.