Contractors hired by public land agencies took a $1.3 billion hit last year.
Small businesses were hit especially hard, according to a new analysis of federal data from consulting groups Prospect Partners and Hawk Eye Strategies.
It found that almost 15% of small businesses that received work contracting with public land agencies in 2024 didn’t get work in 2025. That’s after the Trump administration took office.
These partners — many of whom worked with the government for years — offer services like clearing fallen trees or maintaining bridges for agencies like the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.
“I've gotta wonder if we've lost a lot of local expertise and maybe even harmed some local economies,” said analysis co-author Bernie Kluger, managing director at Prospect Partners and a former senior leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Biden administration.
He said the data also shows a clear shift in how the country mitigates and suppresses wildfires. Funds are increasingly going toward fighting fire from the air, instead of the ground.
“We're seeing fewer of those local family businesses that were providing local expertise and knowledge,” Kluger said. “More of those contracts are going to a smaller number of aviation firms.”
The analysis says on-the-ground fire suppression saw about 11% less money, while aviation and transportation vendors saw 15% more dollars, although the number of contractors fell by 22%.
Kluger added that this contradicts the Trump Administration’s assertion that it supports small businesses. The White House didn’t respond to a request to comment by publication time.
In the Mountain West, New Mexico and Colorado businesses saw the biggest dip in funding — to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each — followed by Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Idaho and Montana businesses saw more money overall thanks to a few big projects, though they now have dozens fewer contractors.
Businesses maintaining and building facilities, along with ones providing IT and engineering support, also received less money overall.
Texas and Oregon saw the biggest drops in contract spending overall, with $441 million and $358 million declines respectively. Georgia and Minnesota saw the largest gains, potentially driven by major infrastructure projects.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
