NOTE: In February, the Trump administration fired approximately 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees and 1,000 National Park Service employees, including wilderness rangers and trail crew members across the country. Shortly after termination, some wilderness rangers reached out to Wilderness Watch to share their stories and concerns about the impact to Wilderness. The following essay was written by one such wilderness ranger. Wilderness Watch has authenticated the wilderness ranger’s identity, but we are publishing this story anonymously to protect their identity and to help prevent potential repercussions. The images in this story are unrelated to where the wilderness ranger works.
At the time of publishing, it was just announced that probationary employees will be “reinstated” for 45 days with pay. The long-term situation remains unknown, with cuts possible again.
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I knew I wanted to be a wilderness ranger the moment I met the lead wilderness ranger during my first temporary U.S. Forest Service position back in 2018. I took the long way to get there, working positions in botany, then trail crew, but finally found my way to my wilderness ranger “dream job.”
It’s never that simple of course, and my small Forest Service recreation department required me to wear a variety of hats and complete whatever jobs needed doing. I started the season opening developed recreation sites with hazard tree assessments. I participated in the early season chainsaw logout of non-wilderness trails. I used my equestrian background to assist our mule packer with hauling in gear and materials for our Forest Service trail crew and non-profits and volunteer crews. I joined our trail crew with crosscuts and axes to remove as many logs from our wilderness trails as possible.
When all the extra duties were accomplished, I loaded up my pack, picked up my shovel, and headed alone into the Wilderness. I was never completely alone, a few miles away in any direction were other rangers, just a radio call away. Our small but mighty wilderness crew was comprised of our permanent seasonal lead ranger, several temporary rangers like myself, and one or two Americorp interns.
Working in a very busy Wilderness, there is never a shortage of work. There are always people to educate, there is always trash to remove, there are always illegal fire rings to disassemble and rehabilitate, and there are always people camping on fragile alpine vegetation. In the dry heat of summer, lightning peppers the landscape, and fires threatening people must be found and fought. There is a constant battle to manage the rapidly filling wilderness pit toilets, and deal with the ever-increasing piles of human waste from those that haven’t mastered the art of the “cathole.” Sometimes, when education isn’t enough, citations must be issued—but know that a wilderness ranger never reaches for their “ticket book” lightly.
Despite the challenges, being out in the Wilderness educating people about their public lands and maintaining these beautiful spaces is the most rewarding job I have ever experienced. I would have continued to work as a temporary employee as long as they would let me do this work. In June 2024, after 9 temporary appointments, I began my first permanent seasonal position with the Forest Service. More than a thousand other long-term temporary employees, including many other wilderness rangers, were hired into permanent positions last year as well. It felt like the agency that has struggled with attrition and hiring for so long was finally building up the next generation of public land stewards to carry on the work of our predecessors.
I was eager to learn the vast work of my mentor, friend, and lead wilderness ranger, who was approaching a well-deserved retirement. He began to teach me the grant application process. This is necessary because the on-the-ground Forest Service recreation employees in my state receive almost no direct federal funding and rely on competitive state recreation grants to fund their work. Read that sentence again—and remember it.
Fast forward to September 2024. My coworkers and I come out of the woods to an announcement that the Forest Service will not be hiring any temporary employees for the 2025 field season. This devastating news hit hard. All around me, friends and coworkers who began to learn the jobs they cherished, and returned to year after year, were gone. Our wilderness ranger “crew” was now a crew of two.
Despite losing our temporaries, we kept our chins up, because we had the recently-hired new cohort of permanent seasonal employees. We knew the next summer with bare-bones staffing would be incredibly challenging, but we are no strangers to doing more with less. I finished my field season, helped finish our grant applications, and received a glowing performance review from my supervisor.
January 2025 was barely over when we received news that every probationary employee was being placed on a list. A probationary period is at least a one year—and up to three years—in which a new permanent employee must display through their performance that they are a good fit for their position. I was a little worried, but I had a fantastic performance review.
Then came February 14, 2025.
I begin getting texts from friends and old coworkers across the region.
“People are being terminated from their positions!”
I get the call myself in the afternoon—I am also being terminated from my position. We all receive an identical letter stating: “The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position.”
Just like that, the career I have been tirelessly working toward is ripped away.
Your public land stewards, the protectors of your Wilderness, were fired. Not due lack of funding, not due to lack of work, not due to poor performance, but due to a complete lack of understanding, and an act of cruelty against federal employees.
The dust has had time to settle, and we can now assess the damage. All probationary Forest Service employees in “non-fire” positions were fired. There are almost no wilderness rangers left in my state and many of my neighboring states. Beyond Wilderness, there are almost no field-going recreation employees left. The temporaries are gone, the permanent seasonals are gone. Without staff, many ranger districts will struggle to even utilize volunteers or host Americorp interns.
Our Congressionally-designated Wilderness areas, and public lands as a whole, are now in greater danger than they have ever been. Visitation continues to increase, and the presence of wilderness rangers is more important than ever.
Without wilderness rangers, pit toilets will overflow, trash will pile up, more fragile alpine vegetation will be trampled by tents, feet, and fire rings, tripping over human and pet waste will become even more common, and already crowded areas likely will have no one to enforce wilderness permit requirements. I fear these precious, fragile places will have their wilderness character destroyed.
If you value public lands, and wild spaces, it is time to stand up for Wilderness.
Photos, from top: Ansel Adams Wilderness, California by The Fun Chronicles / Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona by Bob Wick / Joseph Battell Wilderness, Vermont by Dawn Serra
382 Comments
We must contact our members of Congress and implore them to correct this threat to the public lands we charish.
This is beyond an outrage. We must reinstate all federal wilderness rangers and temporary seasonal rangers. Our National Parks and Wilderness areas are some of our most precious and important things that exist in our country. The people who serve in those positions are truly hard working, dedicated Americans. These actions of wholesale firings of federal workers are truly un-American and must stop.
As someone who loves spending time in our National Parks, I view them as the treasures they are.
Rangers are needed for their protection and they should not be fired. They do so very much that we need.
Without wilderness rangers, pit toilets will overflow, trash will pile up, more fragile alpine vegetation will be trampled by tents, feet, and fire rings, tripping over human and pet waste will become even more common, and already crowded areas likely will have no one to enforce wilderness permit requirements. I am afraid that these precious and fragile places will have their wilderness character destroyed.
I couldn’t agree more.
We must fight to protect all the National Parks and Monuments and Wilderness Areas!
Rehire/reinstate all National Parks seasonal and regular workers and Rangers NOW.
Please, Republicans, wake up to what this greedy President is doing. He apparently wants to ruin us so that he can become richer. Rehiring the park workers is only the beginning of what needs to be corrected.
The National Parks are our real wealth. They sustain us and other life on earth. The service men and women who take care of the National Parks are an indispensable resource. STOP this non-sensical firing! It will fire-back very hard on our own well-being.
The rangers are needed to protect the beautiful wilderness and all the species that live there. This beautiful planet needs more protection not less.
Our wild and natural places are sacred lands. Our rangers or stewards of the spaces protecting these spaces and caring for these spaces which allow us to enjoy these spaces. Protect our wild spaces and protect that rangers and workers that care for these spaces. Reinstate these workers in their roles. Do not these roles. They are needed.
It is unfortunate and wrong. It is obvious ‘they’ want to destroy our spirits and take our trees. The letters from Forest Service ’employees’ are good to hear and I think they should not be afraid to say their names otherwise ‘they’ are winning.
This is a lot of BS! What the administration is doing to the workers and the citizens that come to the National Parks. We need our rangers and our trail and camp ground maintainers. What is so pathetic is the fact that this is being done so they will have more money for tax cuts for the top one percent.
We have to protect these beautiful, natural spaces and all of the flora and fauna within.
I love our forests and wilderness areas. I am very angry that they are being abandoned by this administration, and worse, that they may be opened up for massive logging and mining. We need to fight back against the egregious cuts in funding that are occurring.
I love our national parks and they cannot exist without our park service men and women. Shame on all those that voted for Trump (they told you they would do this) and him and his cronies. I hate to see them destroy the beautiful natural wonders of this nation, but the majority of this nation decided this would be justified so they could have a man in office and save on eggs. How is that working out for you?
Trump’s God is money. He doesn’t realize you can’t eat or drink money. God gave us one earth of beauty that we over hundreds of years and many generations to explore, enjoy and relish. Trump and his minions in 30 days are trying to destroy what took God millions of years to create. This is a man who has no feelings, compassion or love for anyone, anything or any act of nature. He treated his own father like crap the man who gave him his endowment. We who know love and have faith need to band together and do whatever to undo these unlawful firings that he is doing to protect our parks which are our heritage and those of our many generations to come. Because what is lost now can never be replaced later.
We only have one place to live. We MUST cherish and protect our environment and wildlife. We cannot replace them. It is a disgrace if we don’t do everything we can. Our government must help, not destroy!
I think few of us understand the grueling work required of our Rangers. In my visitations I have relied on the knowledge, friendliness, and professionalism from these amazing people. They give more than asked and have a depth of knowledge that not only keeps us safe, but protects the wilderness from the damage we sometimes do. We need every one of the employees reinstated. Now.
We need these dedicated and knowledgeable workers to protect land, water, vegetation, and animal wildlife. They should be returned to their positions immediately out of respect for them and for the entire community of life in the wilderness.
When you grow up sitting on a toilet made of gold, you can’t understand the value of the hard-working forest rangers who keep not only the outside pit latrines clean and free of disease, but the wilderness restrooms that need regular scouring and disinfection, as well replenished supplies. When your only experience outdoors is on a chemically-sprayed golf course green or in a sand trap, you’ll never have the glorious thrill of sitting in contemplation as you look out to the horizon from an ancient Native American cliff dwelling or climb the trail up a Smoky Mountain path, past gorgeous waterfalls and scenic views that are beyond the imagination. Until then, my friend, you will never understand that your childhood was, indeed, sadly under privileged, not just, as many say, from a lack of love, but from growing up with few, if any, sweet encounters in nature. It’s never too late to save yourself. Do what’s right, not what’s expedient, what paves the way for destruction, or simply what makes you more money. You can be better than that. Remember, the love of money is the root of all evil. And if you don’t change your ways, your legacy will become one of unmitigated evil very, very soon.
Our wilderness is so precious and the stewards that work and volunteer are so important to our survival! Climate change and wilderness destruction will be so harmful to all of us and future generations. I am so saddened by this new administration and the destruction they are doing to devoted federal workers. Hopefully in 2028 there will be a change to this chaos and we can fight our way back to saving our planet once again. It will take the work of all of us but we can do it.
SAVE OUR WILDERNESS AND OUR PLANET!
The National (and other) Parks, Monuments and Wilderness Areas belong to the PEOPLE! Members of the forest service and park rangers are the stewards of these beautiful, vibrant and necessary spaces. Restore their jobs and get your hands off of our beautiful shared lands! I commit to take action to fight the dismantling of these spaces and organizations.
Jeremiah 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.
We need wilderness to survive. We can not survive in cities with 5G antennas, wifi and cell phones everywhere in addition to satellites making us sick. Past presidents supported the wilderness. Now with CEQA and NEPA threatened, EPA threatened, federal workers kicked out and being told that they are doing a lousy job, when that is absolutely not true, we shoot ourselves in the foot. Research will be eliminated, animals and plants will suffer, which has an effect on all of us. Who is thinking what seven generations that will be coming up need? Did we not learn from the Native Americans? What a travesty! Not acceptable!