By Suzanne Cable
The U.S. Forest Service is headed for obsolescence due to recent personnel reductions, proposed budget cuts, and re-organization plans. The ability of the Forest Service to meet its legislatively mandated multiple-use mission to the American public is being systematically dismantled.
I, and many Americans, welcome thoughtful strategic reform of federal agencies, but what we have seen occur over the last several months to the Forest Service is nothing like that. We’ve seen an agency systematically and deliberately dismantled by indiscriminate firings, forced retirements, and coerced resignations. And the chaos is not over with a reduction in force and drastic structural reorganization planned and looming in the future, but currently on hold by a federal judge and awaiting a ruling by the supreme court.
The large number of personnel leaving the federal government has been widely reported in the news media. What has not been daylighted, however, and specifically in the case of the Forest Service, is that since firefighter and law enforcement positions were not eligible for the various incentives offered to encourage employees to leave, nearly all the employee reductions have come from the far-less-than 50 percent of the remaining agency workforce. That includes personnel that serve as wilderness managers, recreation specialists, fisheries and wildlife biologists, botanists, archeologists, research scientists, and the many varieties of forestry technicians doing work on the ground.
The short-term impact of personnel reductions will be seen this summer when all remaining employees and resources are devoted to responding to wildland fire upon reaching national preparedness level 3 (we’re currently at level 2). This is after thousands of qualified call-as-needed firefighters and fire operations support personnel have lost their jobs. This will come at the expense of the many other mission-critical responsibilities of those remaining employees.
We’ll also see the impact when recreational access, information and education, and infrastructure maintenance is reduced or absent while summer public visitation to national forests surges. Not unlike 2020 in the first year of the COVID pandemic, agency personnel are again directed by their leadership to keep open all recreational access and facilities regardless of whether they can safely and responsibly operate those sites and facilities to established standards. Instead, we will see unmitigated damage to nature from unchecked visitation to sensitive landscapes due to unmanaged recreation. We’ll see impacts to wilderness character, water quality, wildlife, and vegetation that in the most fragile and heavily used areas will never recover.
An especially acute example of reduced staffing with the potential for irreparable damage is on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Washington state. The cherished Enchantments area of the Alpine Lakes is one of the busiest wildland destinations in Washington state for outdoor recreation with more than 100,000 people hiking there each year. There are usually 10 to 12 wilderness rangers on rotational patrols that care for the Enchantments each summer. Due to staffing reductions, the Wenatchee River Ranger District has one wilderness ranger on duty this summer to patrol not only the Enchantments, but also the other 150,000-plus acres of designated Wilderness on the district. Additionally, the district now has one trail crew leader and no trail crew.
This is a situation that will result in not only irreparable damage to wilderness character and natural resources, but will lead to unsafe and unsanitary conditions for visitors as unmitigated human waste, trash, parking congestion, and search and rescue operations are widespread. This is an entirely self-made crisis by the current administration due to implementing a poorly planned and executed deliberately destructive take down of the ability of the Forest Service to deliver services to the American public.
The gutting of the Forest Service is just one example of a national crisis that will take years or decades to recover from once we, as a society, choose to stop the damage to our federal system of governance. We must individually and collectively speak out to all our elected officials and demand a stop to the out-of-control damage being done. We need to begin to rebuild a federal government that we can rely on to deliver critical services to the American public, including the Forest Service, and protect our wild landscapes from destruction.
Suzanne Cable retired in January 2024 after a 30-year career with the Forest Service. She finished her career as the forest-wide program manager for Recreation, Trails, and Wilderness on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Suzanne continues her advocacy for wilderness stewardship in central Washington, including volunteering for local conservation organizations. She has recently joined the Board of Directors of Wilderness Watch.
1,039 Comments
Stop! Just stop ruining our wilderness. What beauty will be left for future generations?
PLEASE stop the destruction of the environment and animal habitat!
Save our Lands and parks.
Please continue to protect our wilderness and animals through responsible guardianship. Thank You!
Restore our Forest Service, Park Service and BLM personnel ASAP. Our wild lands need protection, not abuse. They belong to the Amercian people and the more-than-human beings who inhabit them, not to the oligarchs hellbent on destroying everything with their greed.
Shame on you for even thinking of this proposal. We need our forests and habitats where wildlife can flourish. We deserve and want a government that preserves, not destroy!
This abandonment is the dream of false King Trump so no one will be there to see , to correct, to report what he is doing or getting ready to do. THAT is why he got rid of everyone to make it easier to overtake as part of his plans. He cares nothing of the forest, the rivers, the beloved animals, or the harm this is causing anyone going there. What he has done is sickening. He disgusts me and he is the worse thing that has ever hit our country….and I really fear the next 3 and half years of his mayhem and evilness. Mildred
The protection, expansion, strengthening and stewardship of our public lands is more critical than ever. If the US Forest Service is weakened irreparable harm will come to these precious resources.
Properly fund this essential federal service.
This is MY country and MY land. It doesn’t belong to any one but the people of the United States. No one has the right to take it, buy it or destroy it. We have an obligation to leave this beautiful land to future generations.
The same republican forces of greed/profit above all see forests as board-feet to be harvested and sold.
Must we destroy everything for corporate profit? This is sickening
Preserve our wilderness and all the wildlife that create our beautiful country.
The gutting of the National Forest System will result in a shortage of vital services that will threaten the safety and health of all people who use our natural environment. Who will manage the forests? Who will put out the fires? Who will make sure visitors are safe? This is a catastophic situation for our environment and we must do everything to preserve these essential areas!
When we destroy.the wilderness we loose not only raw beauty and animals but out own life.
Don’t gut the Forest Service. It is a vital Service to this country.
Please protect our precious forests & rehire all the valuable people who have worked hard to safeguard these beautiful public lands. Everything is our ecosystems is connected to everything else. Our mental & physical health depends on these areas.
Crazy by lunatics
My heart hopes SO much that the RIGHT thing is done so that ALL living can live their life 🙏🏽🙏🏽. What if YOU were any other living thing, how would YOU want to be treated and live YOUR life.🙏🏽🙏🏽
Public lands, wilderness areas, national parks, and forests need to be managed and protected for use by all Americans. The Forest Service has done an excellent job providing that service as well as rescues, education, and wildfire control for decades. The only crisis the Forest Service has is the one created by the current administration, which is indiscriminately cutting funds and personnel. This shortsighted policy must be reversed before the damage is irreversible. Our children and grandchildren deserve to experience the grandeur of our nation’s wilderness, wildlife, and waters.
Please don’t gut spending and staff now when fire season is here. It makes no sense and is an incompetent use of taxpayer money.
Gutting the Forest Service is a horrible idea! Oversight is needed to keep wilderness protected. Leave public lands public!
If the forest service gets gutted it could take a lifetime to fix what may be broken. Our federal government is in laughable enough of a state as it is and our public lands are the only grand, beautiful thing remaining of our nation! We have to protect these spaces instead of ruining them!
The very definition of wilderness is that humans don’t touch it, change it, “improve” it, use it for commercial purposes. Leave the wilderness as nature/God created it!
We need to everything in our power to PROTECT our wild spaces; NOT damage and destroy them! This is for our good as humans, wildlife, plants, clean air and water. Gutting Forest Service will have NO BENEFIT whatsoever
Don’t trade Americas birthright for a handful of “magic beans” for billionaires!!! WE, the AMERICAN PEOPLE own our wilderness! Put it to a VOTE of the Nation!
My father was district ranger for the US Forest Service for decades (on various ranger districts). I saw first hand as a child how important it was, how so many people relied on our national forests for recreation and how vital it was to protecting watersheds and habitat for all living plants and animals. The forest service should not be made a political pawn in the current fight to maintain our public lands, our legacy as Americans.
Please stop cutting funds to our forest services!
We need our U.S. Forest Service – please save it!
Once destroyed your great great grandchildren might not even experience them.
The national forest service was formed to designate and protect public lands for all to enjoy. Without the protection of staff, these lands could be in serious jeopardy. Please do all possible to reinstate the workers so necessary for the protection of our public lands. Once these areas are destroyed, they may never return to an ecological balance.
It is unconscionable to cut Forest Service staff to pay for a multi million dollar parade & give rich folks a raise.
These decisions will impact wildfire fighting & destroy even more of our old growth forests as well as endangering forest visitors.
More forest service staff is needed not less! Let’s get our priorities adjusted, in this country.
I oppose this destructive dismantling of the US Forest Service and how it hampers our ability to protect our nation’s national forests, safeguard biodiversity, and help in the fight against climate change. The proposed budget cuts must not pass and all former employees who were fired must be rehired.
CUTTING PERSONNEL AND VITAL DEPARTMENT SERVICES IN THE NAME OF SAVING GOVERNMENT FUNDS AND THEN DIVERTING THOSE ‘SAVINGS’ TO SELECTED POLITICAL RECEIVERS IS AN OBVIOUS SHAM AND SHOULD BE SEEN AS SUCH. THE DAMAGE OF THESE ACTIONS IS NOT TOTALLY SEEN YET BUT WILL BE SHOCKING IN THE FUTURE.
THE FOREST SERVICE NEEDS TO BE FULLY STAFFED AND MONITORING
OUR FORESTS AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY IN PRESERVING OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR
WILD LANDSCAPES.
Pleasse save our U.S Forest Service, we need it!
Public lands belong to the public. Stop gutting the U.S. Forest Service to cause chaos, so you can sell our public lands to the rich. They belong to us, not the rich and oligarchs.
Please stop the progress on the path to permanent destruction! Let’s leave the beauty for our kids and grandkids, and theirs.
Please restore funds to our national forests.
We should not and cannot gut our recreation/wilderness budgets. These lands, especially nearest populated areas are heavily used and need management to prevent overuse and destruction. Wilderness is fragile and needs stewardship. I worked for the USFS as a Wilderness Ranger for years and know this first hand.
The changes to the Forest Service and the National Parks are devastating and unconscionable. They will cause irreparable damage to our national treasures. Please immediately reverse the changes and restore personnel and funding.
DO NOT GUT THE FOREST SERVICE AND RUIN OUR NATION ANY MORE THAN YOU’VE ALREADY RUINED IT!
This is nuts…STOP
I am not shocked to learn about what’s happening with all the land that had been set aside for future generations to enjoy, but I am disturbed that this government doesn’t value our environment and it’s open spaces and the protected animals that live on the land.
Please save the forest service for all.
Enough with the destruction! We need to live sustainably!
The protection, expansion, strengthening and stewardship of our public lands is more critical than ever. If the US Forest Service is weakened irreparable harm will come to these precious resources.
Protect the U.S. Forests Service, not destroy it
Joseph Butera
Our public lands and their management and protection are necessary to the health, well being, and economic stability of our nation. We need to fund and staff the agencies responsible for doing this work. This is where I want and expect my tax dollars to go.
Our public lands need to be preserved for future generations. The income generated from public lands far exceeds the expense to the federal government. The enjoyment of these wild places by millions of citizens and visitors to our country is immeasurable. PLEASE preserve our public lands and reinstate workers that have been callously fired.
Right on target, Wilderness Watch. I am just re-reading Wilderness Management, Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values 5th Edition. Without staffing, where is the stewardship and protection? Nowhere.
Please preserve the forest services so they can in turn preserve our wilderness. This is a very important matter not only to us still living on this planet but to those who will be living here after us as well.
Most of us do not want the Forest Service gutted, nor do we want the Forest Service gutting our forests with their misguided forest thinning. Blowing sparks ignite burning, not the forests. In fact the the thicker the forest, the more moisture is drawn there.
Stop thinning our forests. It’s misguided.
Stop gutting the forest
Gutting our Forest Service workers is absolutely WRONG! Our forests are sacred, and a huge part of our Eco-System. By allowing people to tromp through our forests, destroying the land, along with the animals, who make their homes in our forests, is unamerican and despicable!!!
Don’t gut the Forest Service. It is a vital Service to this country.
We need to everything in our power to PROTECT our wild spaces; NOT damage and destroy them! This is for our good as humans, wildlife, plants, clean air and water. Gutting Forest Service will have NO BENEFIT whatsoever, but it WILL help those who want to, for greed or ignorance or whatever reason they might think they have, to destroy what few natural places are left. SHAME on anyone who does this!
People are part of nature. Cutting back on the people who protect our wilderness hurts us as well as whatever nature is left.
This is one of the more terrible ideas of this administration, and that is certainly saying a lot. The incompetence level is off the charts on this kind of idea. See the light already and stop any and all of these hairbrained, idiotic proposals.
Do NOT gut the forest service.
Removing the Forest Service before fire season is like yelling at a cart after you just killed the horse.
It is truly remarkable and utterly awful that these oligarchs want to rob us of the gems of our lands, which WE, as taxpayers, OWN.
We need the forest service as a tax payer I’m asking please don’t cut them. Thank You
Correct.