Losses at the Forest Service

[marshman]

As of this morning 3,400 Interier Department employees at the Forest Service have been fired.
Am I alone in wonering if there will be any functionalitity left in the Forest Service?
I get an incredible amount of information f from them.
I am reading that the Nation Weather Service is next. This is NOAA and USGS once again agencies and information I find irreplaceable in my outdoor activities.
I would have never thought this could happen to these dedicated professionals and insitutions that are so vital to our natural resources.

 

[SAJ-99]

But they saved a buck so they can get tax cuts, so some are happy.

 

[appaloosa]

The USFS isn't in the Department of Interior. Is this news accurate?

 

[MTGomer]

The US forest service is under the USDA

 

[hank4elk]

The USFS isn't in the Department of Interior? Is this accurate?

USDA-FS.
The lunatic criminals are in control now.

 

[Big Fin]

From the Wall Street Journal - https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy...-than-a-year-on-job-7337341a?mod=hp_lead_pos5



For those who can't get behind the paywall, here is the relevant sentence that clarifies whether it was USFS (Part of Dept of Ag) or Interior.

About 3,400 Forest Service employees and 2,000 Energy Department staffers were laid off on Thursday, said Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees.

 

[Chama Grande]

This year is a going to be a banner year for 'pack it in - pack it out'. No one is coming to empty those trash cans anytime soon

 

[hank4elk]

There are a bunch of locals with a problem this morning.
Many firefighters and other dept's staff out.

 

[hank4elk]

This year is a going to be a banner year for 'pack it in - pack it out'. No one is coming to empty those trash cans anytime soon

My neighbor worked for USDA-FS for 35 years. His daughter was working here.
He had been working as a volunteer, free. They asked if he could use his own vehicle yesterday.

 

[Beignet]

This year is a going to be a banner year for 'pack it in - pack it out'. No one is coming to empty those trash cans anytime soon

How about the latrines? Yikes. Unfortunately all this is gonna further the land transfer narrative.

 

[Dougfirtree]

How about the latrines? Yikes. Unfortunately all this is gonna further the land transfer narrative.

Exactly.

 

[TheTone]

My local forests were already short on LEO’s with multiple openings. Guessing those won’t be filled anytime soon

 

[westbranch]

Defund and Decry.

 

[Beignet]

My local forests were already short on LEO’s with multiple openings. Guessing those won’t be filled anytime soon

Gonna be a great summer for would be poachers & illegal off roaders!

 

[JLDemo]

Absolutely terrible. My wife is a probationary employee at the VA. Just a waiting game right now, hopefully she'll get an exemption for being health care. Who knows.

I hope some of these people get their payback as a contractor and write their own checks at the expense of the agency who let them go.

 

[Deez Nutz]

In my neck of the woods people call it the Forest Circus for a reason.

 

[Chama Grande]

There are a bunch of locals with a problem this morning.
Many firefighters and other dept's staff out.

I'm already dreading the fire season in Arizona and New Mexico.

 

[longbow51]

Would have to see a breakdown of who is cut. If the Energy Department cuts were those destined to fill the desert with solar farms, I'm OK with it. Desert terrain could never recover.

 

[Nameless Range]

Theoretically, employees said to be exempt in the agency include wildland firefighters, law enforcement officers, meteorologists, and bridge inspectors.

That said, particularly in the fire side of things, none of it happens without support staff that were not exempted. I would make a prediction that if we have a bad fire season, both firefighting operations will not be as functional nor will the cost of those operations be reduced - because when the rubber hits the road contractors cost more than staff.

The vast majority of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF - my backyard and some of the heaviest hit elk hunting country in the state - does not have travel management. Due to this, many problems stem. Game Wardens cannot cite folks for driving down closed roads or trails, LEOs and Search and Rescue struggle to effectively function on the landscape, the Forest is ineligible for many grant opportunities dedicated to trail and road improvements, rogue motorized use and the pioneering of trails is rampant and expanding, and user experience suffers as does the resource. There's a long history going back to 2006 or so of the Forest saying it's going to be a priority, and then the can is kicked down the road.

I can hear the clinkin' now.

That said, the human toll - Montanans losing their jobs in my community - is really the one I am bothered by right now.

 

[texwest44]

What's additionally painful is that those who should learn something from these events won't learn a damned thing.