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
We need the Forest Service to be fully funded and staffed, to protect our extremely important National Forests. Here in Western North Carolina, they are extremely important to our environment, our quality of life, and our economy.
I want our public lands protected for our grandchildren!
We love our parks, monuments and road-less areas as is, with a sufficient number of guardians to uphold the law.
Care for the Forests, Wildlife, Marshes, Lakes and People visiting. We have come so far. Please do not go back.
Being in nature fulls u up & creates peace and belonging for everyone
We need for more people to experience what it brings.. so necessary to our survival
Without the natural beauty of this land, our lives would be harsh and totally out of balance. DO NOT DESTROY THE BEAUTY AND FABRIC OF OUR LIVES IN AMERICA!
LET US PLEASE RESTORE ALL RANGER AND OTHER JOB POSITIONS THEY ARE ALL NECESSARY FOR THE preservation of wilderness and the safety of the visitors. spending near these parks helps the local economy a lot.
thank you very much
Millions and probably billions are wasted on agencies that dabble in evaluating pesticides and other poisonous commodities that simply require elimination
The Forest Service provides valuable service to preserve the litttle we have left of land that has not been plundered of its plants and animals and resources
It should be abundantly funded and supported
The Wilderness is essential for all Life and our Souls.
The source of pure Beauty and Grace.
Please Protect the forests and parklands. Do everything possible to save Nature and all her inhabitants. If we don’t, we will look back and say “we should have done more. Why didn’t we do more”. Let’s skip the future regret and actually do the right thing when it matters. Thank you.
The US Forest Service must be funded and staffed at full levels, and allowed to continue to provide its services.
Please, for the sake of future generations, and the wild lands themselves, do not gut the US Forest Service!
Having flown back and forth around the USA for some 50 years is is pretty shocking to look down today and see haw thoroughly our forests have been consumed. Flying into Seattle back then the forests below our the plane were a carpet of green …. today they look like a checkerboard with the black(green)squares still standing and the white (brown dirt) squares slaughtered. Keep this up and those lands are going to be a disaster.
We NEED healthy forests and a Forest Service to monitor and maintain them!
Trump is only gutting governmental institutions to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies. We have to impeach him before he destroys the environment, innocent wildlife and all of the hard work we’ve accomplished to fight climate change.
The U.S. Forest Service personnel should not be cut. They protect animals from savage killers, torture, mutation and trophy hunting. They make a concerted effort to preserve our forests and waters.
Balance of nature and wilderness must be maintained.
I dont know of one person who doesn’t like taking in nature. There is no better way than hiking in a forest. They need to be preserved, not only for human enjoyment but animal survival as well.
America’s natural landscapes, parks and wildlife belong to all of us, not just the corporate robber baron few who will deliberately pillage these areas for their personal short-term financial gain. These precious areas deserve the dedication of a fully staffed Forest Service. These individuals work to preserve and protect their beauty and unique ecosystems.
It’s clear to me Republicans in all three branches of government are hell-bent on destruction for destruction’s sake, whether it’s natural parks and landscapes, wildlife, environmental protections, air and water quality, health care, housing, a living wage or First Amendment rights. Never has such a large number of shameless, corrupt, spineless grifters occupied the whole of the federal government, rooting out hard-working federal employees to make way for more like-minded sycophants.
I hope we can turn things around before it’s too late. Our very existence depends on it.
Preserve and maintain our national parks and forest service. Why deliberately create these disasters, the Forest Service must be preserved to save our forests and all of our environment. The recent tragedy in Texas shows how much all States and people need agencies such as the Forest Service. I urge my elected officials to fight these cuts and restore full funding before more damage is done to our planet and our own wellbeing..
The decline of the Forest Service highlights a national crisis that will take years to resolve. We must unite and urge our elected officials to address this damage. It is essential to rebuild a federal government capable of providing critical services and protecting our wild landscapes.
Even a child knows that we need forests for countless of reasons. We owe it to animals and humans a like.
Please save our forests and all the beautiful animals that live there
Humans have already decimated 75% of the natural world! We can’t afford to take away another inch of what’s left!
Washington D.C. may not realize or appreciate what the Forest Service does, but those who live in the west feel they are irreplaceable. Keep your hands off them!
The devastation to the Forest Service will leave irreparable damage to the public lands. The public are losing this rich heritage due to reckless political maneuvering all focused on the billionaires. The public loses!!
The scientific research and land management functions of the US Forest Service have been decimated by the current administration. The consequences will be dire. Congress must be told that this is unacceptable!
Don’t Destroy America’s Priceless Treasures! They Belong to All of Us, Including Our Children’s Children’s Children!
Sad, all this dismantling of agencies that aim to protect what’s good in America, like our precious natural environments, plus healthcare, personal freedoms, judicial systems… all this dismantling of good government…. always by the disastrous malevolent Repug. mindset and agenda…
Please save The Forest Service.
It’s important that it’s been preserved to save our forests and the rest of our environment
I’d rather have a well-staffed Forest Service than a large budget for border control and a massive military.
The American wilderness is a legacy we must leave to future generations. It is only with conservation and foresight that such places must be considered. These are not properties owned by individual to be regarded as having some economic standard. These are lands belonging to everyone here and around the world.
Preserved lands must remain intact, so that protected species thrive. These are not zoo animals, or oddities, wildlife is a part of a whole, of an ecosystem that we must appreciate and conserve, even more so because we do not yet fully comprehend the complexities of the infrastructures throughout.
No amount of money will restore devastated public lands. That is why they must remain as they are– kept and kept well by educated and dedicated personnel who understand the value of the natural world.
It is in the interest of the entire planet to protect wild places. Not financiers, or bankers, or businesses or billionaires should have the power to break this trust. Certainly no political party bent on destroying the whole should be so enabled.
Please think of the generations to come.
Please protect our wild landscapes from destruction.
It’s hard to fathom cutting back on employees in the Forest Service to practically none. The $$ the government needs can certainly come from other areas. Visitors deserve to experience a clean, safe, well managed, and educational journey through all the national parks. God created this spacious wilderness for us to enjoy. Please lobby in the Courts to protect these lands and forbid this action to take place.
Thank you,
Robb Minnesota
Beautifully stated. The danger is real.
I will contact my CA legislators re this dire situation.
We should and must protect our wilderness, forests and wildlife habitats. Extinct is forever.
Our National Parks are critical to the protection of our natural areas and vitally important to our citizens. No where else in the world has such beautiful natural areas for our citizens to enjoy and relax in.
Please rehire the rangers that keep these parks clean and safe for all to use.
We must protect our Federal Lands and the U.S. Forest Service employees who manage them. There is no amount of money that can replace these resources, and we owe this legacy to future generations. We must fight the agencies and individuals who cannot understand the true value of these resources, in court, and at the Ballot Box.
The idea that there would be one trail crew leader for the Alpine Lakes Wilderness — with NO trail crew — is ludicrous. This is an example of DOGE’s “foresight.”
FIX IT with additional bodies for the USFS.
Gutting of the Forest Service will cause irreparable damage to wilderness character, access, infrastructure and beauty for years.
YOU ARE WRONG!
Excellent article. Another point to be made, however, is that too many humans can’t be trusted to patrol their own actions. “Leave no trace”, and “pack-in, pack-out” are viewed as inconveniences to a public that now regards wilderness as another simply another trip to Disney Land. Too many humans won’t be bothered with rules or being told what to do. Common sense is gone. It’s mostly “I’m gonna get mine, and to hell with everyone else” mentality, sadly.
This is IRRESPONSIBLE AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED. THE FORESTS IN AMERICA ARE NEEDED HERE. IT IS ABSURD TO REMOVE PROTECTIONS AND IGNORE POLICIES ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS BUT THIS ADMINISTRATION IS LIKE A 2 YR. OLD-IT WANTS THINGS NOW. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW OUR FORESTS TO FALL AS THEY PROTECT US AND STORE POLLUTANTS.
Fully fund the Forest Service NOW!
This is an valuable service to both the US Government and General Population
With so much sadness in the world that comes through no one’s fault, why deliberately create these disasters on purpose?
The Forest Service must be preserved to save our forests and the rest of our environment.
As a concerned citizen I oppose the reckless, nihilistic cuts proposed by the current administration. I demand accountability and I urge my elected officials to fight these cuts and restore full funding.
Stop taking away from the people our beautiful places and our wonderful forests! They are precious and we want them and need the forest service to maintain them!
The tragedy in Texas emphasizes how much all states and people need agencies such as the Forest Service. We, the People must act together.
Why the hell is the WH bent on ‘destroying’ our gov’t agencies one by one? Congress & the senate need to DO THEIR JOBS & stop this ‘foolishness!
The protection of our wilderness areas in critical for our land resources and our personal health. Trained, seasoned, certified and an adequate number of personnel are needed to protect and sustain these resources for the well-being and benefit of ALL.
“Once upon a time” over one hundred years ago, the very wealthy were well aware of the need for parks and land resources for their employees. At that time these wealthy entrepreneurs owned land within cities and near cities. It was considered proper behavior and a legacy for these people to give land for parks and pools, etc. for the common good. It was a benefit both to the general population and to the person dedicating their land for this purpose. Hmmmmm. Certainly something has changed.
It makes me sad and angry to see how our current administrations remain ignorant and uncaring, and need I see driven by greed, about the short and long term effects of their policies and directions for the safety and health of our country.
Preserve and protect wildlife and our natural resources. Public lands are not for sale ever.
I worked for the NPS for 20 years. It is appalling to see what changes have been done to the service. And now, to gut the Forest Service as well! These bozos in D.C. have no idea what it takes and the type of people that work at these places. I won’t use the word “work” because it is more of a calling than work. There will be nothing left for their grandchildren except video games…then who will suffer?
We as humans have made great strides to heal our planet. Now, with the disastrous decisions being made by the government, will directly impact the globe, to which it may never recover.
Please protect our precious wild spaces!
Don’t ruin our forests!
Preserve and maintain our national parks and forest service!!! Do not cut their budgets!!!
Destroying the forest will hurt all of us. Trees are necessary to preserve topsoil and provide oxygen.
Our public lands must be preserved for us and all future generations and the for the sake of the planet. A robust and well funded Park Service is essential to maintain and expand all public lands and parks.