In California, summer may be on the chopping block.
Almost 4,000 campsites across many of California's 18 national forests could be closed for some or all of the summer season, according to a U.S. Internal Forest Service spreadsheet viewed by the New York Times on Friday. These potential closures followed a wave of federal layoffs and budget freezes last month, stalling contracts for basic services, including understaffing and toilet pumps.
National forests are sometimes less well known than national parks, but they are often more accessible due to more diverse uses, lower appearance fees and lower camping. They attract motorcyclists, day hikers, ATV users, horse riding riders, boats, backpackers, and ranchers who pastorate cattle, log wood foresters, and even gold-seeking miners.
In an internal email from the Forest Service on February 18, Region 5 forest supervisors overseeing California were instructed to list public facilities that could be closed this year as a result of budget cuts and staff shortages. The U.S. Forest Service did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
The email said, “Unexpected impacts, changes in terms and financial restrictions could make some sites unsafe or it could be too difficult to fully compete in 2025.” It was sent less than a week after at least 2,000 employees were fired due to the efficiency of the government led by Elon Musk.
Not only does the decline in the workforce suffer scientific research on these sites, but visitors struggle to find clean and accessible facilities. And when the risk of wildfires increases, nearby communities can take risks.
Almost 12 current and recently fired staff members in Area 5 who spoke with the Times confirmed that shootings and the insolvency of contractors have affected most of the forest.
Inyo National Forest, where 26,000 people visit the highest peak in the US, which is adjacent to the Mount Whitney Trail each year, a 75% reduction in staff means less human waste removal, and spreadsheets say it reduces the ability to respond to search calls and makes trail signs difficult to maintain. Kennedy Meadows, a campground with 37 sites near the Mount Whitney Trail, is one of the experiences of reaching the pinnacle of through-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, and could close for the season.
The team managing the Lake Tahoe Basin area noted that it was a 33% cut in recreational staff and the “end of the only permanent wilderness ranger position” in the devastated wilderness, one of the most popular wilderness areas in the United States, according to the Forest Service.
31-year-old biologist Andrew Peterson was fired on probation only 10 days for his position as heading a fishing crew.
“People will definitely see the impact on services, especially when it comes to overall cleanliness,” Peterson said. Furthermore, research is diminished and increases the risk of species that help these forests thrive. “Every year, we don't work actively to support species that are threatened and at risk,” he said.
Last year, Peterson made around $46,000. As a seasonal worker a few years ago, he made about half of it. He and his wife live with two roommates, spending high prices around Lake Tahoe.
The Forest Service budget issue was ahead of the end of last month. Employees said California's Region 5 forests had been underfunded for at least a year. The Tahoe Management Unit typically employs up to 50 temporary workers each summer, but it is unclear whether they will be hired this summer due to a series of budget cuts and employment freezes.
These closures could also limit visitors' access to backpacking and fire collection information and permissions. According to the spreadsheet, at least three visitor centres in the El Dorado National Forest, adjacent to the Lake Tahoe area, were able to close due to low staff, including a loss of all administrative staff at the district office. Almost 12 visitor centres in Lassen, Shasta Trinity, San Bernardino and Sequoia also risked closures.
Four of the five front desk staff were fired in Northern California's Six Rivers National Forest, according to a former employee. The front desks at four district offices in the area will reduce the days or hours, according to the spreadsheet. The former employee said only one office would remain fully open in February as public relations experts agreed to work at the front desk in addition to performing another full-time job duties.
Bad maintenance trails can contribute to increased risks from wildfires. Adam Forsell, a 27-year-old Marine veteran, helped maintain the trail at Six Rivers before being fired, saying firefighters relied on paths to contain the fire and helped workers control the fire more quickly.
“A well-maintained trail can be a relatively small stay or a differentiation from a fire that will be a fire for your next campaign,” Forsell said, using the term for large, long-term wildfires.
Many Forest Service workers who are not full-time firefighters are trained to fight fires and coordinate firefighting operations through accreditation programs known as Red Cards. At least five fired staff members of Six Rivers interviewed for this article are certified.
Joey Gallagher, 32, and her husband Tyler Padian, 33, worked as archaeologists at Six Rivers, about a month before their probationary period ended, before being fired on February 14th.
“All these staff have ended out of nowhere, so thin and prescribed burns can't be used to keep the forest healthy and prevent the fire from becoming devastated,” Gallagher said. Last summer, she and Padian helped fire in Boise and Hill, which burned more than 20,000 acres near the small rural communities of Orleans and Willow Creek.
“Both fires were heading towards a highly populated area and without the wild forest department firefighters we could have destroyed the town,” said Scott Williams, a 32-year-old botanist of six rivers who were certified red card. He was on his two-year probation period and had just won a performance award to tell him that he had been fired when his boss called him in tears.
The Trump administration has approved 5,000 temporary jobs for the National Park Service, but the Forest Service, which manages more than twice the land, had not been approved to expand employment as of Wednesday, after firing around 1,000 probation employees.
