Mass firings across federal agencies responsible for wildfire prevention and public lands management will endanger Coloradans and put at risk the state’s mountains, rivers and grasslands, state leaders said.
President Donald Trump‘s administration on Friday, via a form email, fired thousands of probationary employees across the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. They hit federal agencies that manage the more than 24 million acres of federal public lands in Colorado that fuel the state’s economy, make outdoor recreation possible and provide habitat for countless species.
The extent of the cuts in Colorado remained unclear on Monday. At least 90 Forest Service employees based in Colorado were fired, according to Gov. Jared Polis’ office. Firefighters were spared from the cuts, but other employees who worked in wildfire prevention and forest management were fired.
“It’s reckless endangerment to Coloradans and could increase homeowners insurance costs further for the Trump administration to take a hammer to those who help protect us against wildfires through watershed protection and forest management, tipping the scale toward more fire danger with potentially devastating consequences,” Polis said in a statement. “It’s fine if they don’t like how the federal government works today, but risking our health and safety with no replacement is reckless.”
Federal public lands cover approximately 37,500 square miles in Colorado — about of third of the state — and are primarily managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service within the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The firings followed a decision to freeze seasonal hires across the federal government, including at the National Park Service, which relies on seasonal employees to manage crowds during peak visitation seasons.
Spokespeople for the Agriculture and Interior departments did not respond to questions from The Denver Post asking how many Colorado-based employees were fired.
“Secretary 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,” an unnamed Department of Agriculture spokesperson said Friday in an emailed statement in response to questions. “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.”
The mass firings prompted Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation to demand the reinstatement of employees.
The Forest Service already faces critical understaffing and underfunding, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen and Jason Crow wrote in a joint letter Friday.
The Forest Service in Colorado manages nine national forests and two national grasslands. The agency’s jurisdiction includes beloved and iconic places like the Indian Peaks Wilderness west of Boulder, the Maroon Bells outside Aspen as well as the land that many of the state’s ski resorts operate on.
The agency’s staff nationwide declined 30% in the last three decades even as visitation to forests dramatically increased and wildfires became more frequent and destructive. Nearly all of Colorado’s largest wildfires burned on forest service land.
“These public servants not only maintain the health of our headwaters and wildlife habitat but help keep our communities safe by decreasing the risk of wildfire destroying homes and critical infrastructure,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote. “They put out campfires, clear trails, clean bathrooms, and manage trailheads. They also help businesses with the permitting process to use Forest Service lands, including grazers, guides, outfitters, ski resorts, and oil, gas and mining operations.”
The indiscriminate cuts risk permanent damage to Colorado’s federal public lands and threaten the rural communities that rely economically on outdoor recreation and tourism, Ridgway Mayor John Clark said in a news release.
“President Trump’s approach to public lands is a threat to our way of life in rural Colorado,” Clark said.
The firings are part of a broader effort led by the Trump-empowered billionaire businessman Elon Musk to downsize the federal government.
Layoffs are unlikely to yield significant deficit savings, however. When the Congressional Budget Office looked at the issue, it found the government spent $271 billion annually compensating civilian federal workers, with about 60% of that total going to workers employed by the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.
The government could, in theory, cut all those workers and still run a deficit of over $1 trillion. It would continue to grow as tax revenues are needed to keep up with the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare.
“These terminations are foolish, heartless, and do nothing to make the government more efficient,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, a Colorado-based conservation advocacy group. “They will, however, endanger parks, communities, water, and wildlife across the country.
“Firing the next generation of America’s park rangers, scientists, and land managers is a recipe for literal disaster. I don’t know whether we’ll see overflowing latrines, polluted streams, or deadly wildfires first, but (Interior Secretary) Doug Burgum is already leaving a path of destruction across America’s parks and public lands.”
Staff writer Nick Coltrain and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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