While the U.S. Forest Service has fired about 3,400 recent jobs, the National Park Service has been around 1,000 people under the push for Donald Trump to cut federal spending and bureaucracy, according to a report Friday. It is ending the workers.
The fire targets employees on probation, including those hired a year ago, according to Reuters, including sites such as Appalachian Trail, Yellowstone, the birthplace of Martin Luther King JR, and Sequoia National Forest. affects. .
The cuts represent about 10% of the Forest Service’s workforce and about 5% of the National Park Service’s employees, but cut firefighters, law enforcement, certain meteorologists, and 5,000 seasonal workers It is excluded from.
“Although it is essential that parks allow seasonal staffing, staffing of this scale will have devastating consequences for the parks and communities,” says Teresa Pierno of the National Park Conservation Association (NPCA). The president said in a statement.
The association warned this month that the staffing level has not been meeting the growing demand for the National Park System, which saw 325 million visits in 2023 alone.
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Kristen Brengel, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the NPCA, said visitors from all over the world in hopes of a once-in-a-lifetime experience to “guidance due to the lack of garbage overflow, dirty bathrooms and rangers.” We warned that we could face “providing.”
Like other government agencies, the National Park Service was surprised when it suspended White House management and budget federal grants in late January. The administration rescinded the order two days later and reevaluated it.
Around 280,000 employees have been hired over the past two years, out of 2.3 million civilian workers across the federal government, according to government data.
In addition to visiting national parks, approximately 159 million people visit the national forest every year. The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, said it could not comment on personnel issues.
In a statement, the agriculture sector not only protects people and communities, but also leaves infrastructure, businesses and resources behind “first priority.”
“Our Wildland firefighters and other public safety jobs are top priority,” he added.
However, the federal funding freeze will affect programs aimed at reducing wildfire risk in Western states, and freeze seasonal firefighter employment.
Resource reductions for wildfire prevention come after a devastating flame in Los Angeles, which is expected to be the highest in US history.
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The Oregon-based nonprofit organization for the Romakatsu Repair Project has concluded a contract with federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, to reduce dangerous fuels in Oregon, California and Idaho. He said it was frozen.
“The funding freeze affected more than 30 separate grants and contracts with federal agencies, including awards pending by Romakazzi, to Sen. Jeff Markley of Oregon.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Land Management Bureau and the National Park Service parent agency said it is reviewing its funding decision.
Senate Democrats have asked the administration to unlock fire mitigation funds, and separately urged leadership in the Interior and Agriculture Department to exempt seasonal firefighters from a widespread freezing of federal employment.
Firefighters of Grassroots Wildland, a federal firefighter advocacy group, said its members could not hire hundreds of firefighters who are normally prepared for the summer fire season at this time of year.
“The agency already has recruitment and retention issues,” said Riva Duncan, vice-president of grassroots Wildland Firefighters, in an interview. “This just makes the problem worse.”
