By Billy Arnold 
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — Bridger-Teton National Forest workers were fired Friday after the Trump administration directed the U.S. Forest Service to cut about a tenth of its staff. How many employees were fired is unclear.

U.S. Forest Service spokespeople at the national and local level did not respond to the Jackson Hole Daily’s request for specific numbers. 

Multiple Bridger-Teton staffers anonymously told the Daily that workers had been fired by Friday afternoon, and a national spokesperson did confirm the administration’s intent.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins “fully supports President Trump’s directive to optimize government operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s ability to better serve American farmers, ranchers, loggers and the agriculture community,” U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Larry Moore said in an email to the Daily. “We have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar is being spent as effectively as possible to serve the people, not the bureaucracy.

“As part of this effort, USDA has released individuals in their probationary period of employment,” Moore said.

In the federal government, employees in a probationary period have typically been on the federal payroll for less than a year. There is, however, uncertainty how that has been and will be applied.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest oversees 3.4 million acres in western Wyoming, an area the size of Connecticut that includes three iconic mountain ranges — the Tetons, the Wind Rivers and the Gros Ventres — and some of the most remote areas in the Lower 48.

Other public land managers in Jackson Hole were expected to be hit by layoffs, too. 

On Friday morning, the Washington Post reported that the National Park Service planned to fire 1,000 probationary employees and hire 5,000 seasonal workers whose offers were rescinded in January after President Trump instated a hiring freeze.

It wasn’t clear whether those cuts trickled down to Grand Teton or Yellowstone national parks, though they are expected to. 

Park Service spokespeople didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time Friday. Teton park spokespeople weren’t able to comment.

When fully staffed, the Bridger-Teton National Forest employs about 220 people, about 100 of whom are based in Jackson Hole. 

Another 40 or so people work for the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Victor, Driggs and Swan Valley, Idaho. Yellowstone employs another 800 or so people, about half of whom are seasonal, and Grand Teton employs another 360 or so workers (also, half seasonal).

“Firing 1,000 National Park Service staff without any care or thought means that essential jobs will not be filled anytime soon, including public health positions, wastewater treatment operators and other staff who keep the parks maintained and safe for visitors,” said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, a national watchdog group. “It’s becoming more obvious that the administration doesn’t understand how a poorly staffed park will affect the economy of local communities that depend on visitors having great experiences.”

The administration’s move shook local federal workers, who didn’t hear about the firings through their employers. Instead, multiple forest employees said they primarily heard about the cuts through national news outlets. By Friday morning, they hadn’t heard much directly from the Forest Service. They were waiting for work Friday to see how the directive would impact them.

“When I talked to some folks last night, the impression that I got was that Forest Service people don’t even know who have been fired,” said Scott Kosiba, executive director of Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The nonprofit runs volunteer ambassador programs and raises money to support the forest, which already has struggled with budget and staffing. “They’re coming into the office today for a Valentine’s Day massacre,” he said. “I don’t know who we lost, how many people we lost. But on a personal level, it’s just heartbreaking.”

The round of firing began after a federal judge allowed the administration’s “Fork in the Road” resignation offer to proceed Wednesday, ruling that unions lacked standing to challenge it. The deadline for resignations expired Wednesday evening.

The next day, Politico and Bloomberg Law reporting indicated that the administration was taking a new step toward slashing the workforce: firing probationary employees. 

The two news outlets said the Forest Service was axing 3,400 workers. Another outlet, Government Executive, reported a lower number: 2,400 people.

Politico reported that public safety employees and firefighters were exempt from the directive. Other jobs related to wildfire prevention, road and trail maintenance, timber production, and watershed restoration would be impacted, the news outlet said.

Law enforcement, firefighters, bridge inspectors and meteorologists who forecast avalanches also would be exempt, Government Executive reported, citing an official with the National Federation of Federal Employees. That’s a union that represents firefighters and other U.S. Forest Service workers on Jackson Hole-area national forests, as well as rangers in Yellowstone.

The Washington Post joined the fray Friday, reporting on similar moves in other federal land managers. The Department of the Interior, which oversees the Park Service, was expected to cut 2,300 probationary employees, including the 1,000 park workers and another 400 employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department, employs about 35,000 people, according to its website. Interior employs another 70,000 workers.

The forester who oversees 34 million acres of national forest lands in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho announced her retirement Thursday afternoon, shortly after news of the firings spread. In an email, Intermountain Regional Forester Mary Farnsworth told every employee in the region that she would depart in April after 38 years with the forest service. She didn’t mention the layoffs.

“I’ve had some grand adventures and throughout my journey I’ve been given the gift of working with the most amazing people,” she wrote. “Thank you all for your dedication and friendship. Remember, your work matters, and you make a positive difference every day.

“See you out on the forest,” Farnsworth added.