About two-thirds of Colorado land is managed by the federal government. And there are a lot fewer federal workers managing those acres as of this week. 

A Valentine’s Day slashing of federal jobs by the Trump administration has eliminated more than 150 federal workers who help manage more than 24 million acres of public lands in Colorado. Nationally, President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring “large-scale reductions in force” of the 2.3 million-worker federal bureaucracy has resulted in about 3,400 layoffs at the Forest Service and about 2,300 from the Interior Department’s National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management.

No one with any of the agencies is commenting on the record, citing word from the very top that remaining employees may not publicly discuss the losses. All inquiries were forwarded to regional and national communications offices, which traditionally do not respond quickly. 

“Paranoia is high right now,” said one Forest Service worker who said they would be fired if they spoke publicly. “Every single one of these workers is an on-the-ground employee in the field. Most of them are paid by state, local and fee money. I don’t know what’s going to happen after this.”

Questions, not answers, reign in Colorado’s high country now, where communities rely heavily on millions of acres of public lands for recreation, reprieve and livelihoods. 

“I’m concerned that all the folks I know are gone and my emails are going into the ether,” said Jeff Sparhawk, the executive director of the Colorado Search and Rescue Association. “I am confident I’ll be able to talk with the national parks. Not so sure about the USFS or BLM. Will campgrounds or entry-free locations be open this year? Will pit toilets be emptied? Will Forest Service roads be opened once the snow melts? Will permits be issued for boating or guiding?”

The layoffs targeted just about every employee in the federal agencies’ one- or two-year probationary period, including longtime employees who recently shifted to new positions in the agency. A list of nearly 100 employees fired Friday from the state’s national forests obtained by The Colorado Sun shows mostly lower-level, seasonally employed forestry technicians losing their jobs. Firefighters are not included in the cuts but Forest Service workers tasked with mitigation and prevention were laid off. 

“There’s no question that from a public safety standpoint eliminating positions in a federal department which is already drastically understaffed will have devastating and destructive impacts on our mountain communities,” Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said. “Fighting wildfire, protecting people’s property from wildfire and mitigating potential wildfire damage, I would argue, fit into the bucket of the ‘core role of government’ and as a result have historically received complete and total bipartisan support.”

Voters in Summit County in 2018 approved a ballot measure that directed a portion of property taxes toward wildfire mitigation. The 1A ballot measure approved by 60% of Summit County voters has funneled more than $50 million toward child care, behavioral health, recycling and wildfire mitigation as part of the Strong Future fund. In 2023, the fund directed $1.4 million toward wildfire mitigation, including $700,000 to support seasonal Forest Service workers attempting to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire on public lands, which make up 80% of Summit County. 

Pitkin County covers the salaries of two permanent seasonal Forest Service workers — $50,000 each split between the open space and public works departments. The City of Aspen, Pitkin County and the Independence Pass Foundation together chip in $25,000 for another part-time Forest Service worker. 

The county has heard that the part-time employee was fired, even though they were paid with local funding. The three Forest Service workers manage off-road vehicle use on Richmond Ridge on the backside of Aspen Mountain and up Castle Creek, patrol campsites for illegal fires and maintain campsites and bathrooms on public land. 

The layoffs in the already overstretched White River National Forest “are going to be a massive hit to our area,” said Gary Tennenbaum, the director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. “So now if the position is gone, what happens to our money? Can we do something to make sure we have some people on the ground?”

Forest Service employees fired for performance, despite positive appraisals

Several of the fired workers shared the Feb. 14 email from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that informed them they were being fired. The email said they were losing their jobs based on performance. One Forest Service worker told The Sun that neither they nor any of their fired colleagues had ever received any negative feedback on annual performance reviews. 

“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,” reads the email sent to Forest Service workers.  

(It’s unclear if workers who are fired for poor performance can qualify for unemployment benefits. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment tells workers seeking unemployment that they “must have lost your job through no fault of your own — for example, a layoff, reduction in hours, or reduction in pay not related to performance.”)

“A federal worker’s eligibility for unemployment benefits is determined in the same way as any other worker. Whether an individual is discharged or quits employment is not the determinative factor as to whether they are eligible for benefits based on the reason for their separation,” the state labor department said in an email.

As of Tuesday, the state labor department had received 24 unemployment claims from federal employees. 

One source said all but one member of the Forest Service Region 2 “timber strike team” — foresters who prepare forests for timber sales — have been laid off. 

Another person who was let go Friday joined the Forest Service eight months ago as an administrator for an agency program that has distributed $80 million over the past 15 years to Colorado communities for wildfire reduction and restoring forest ecosystems. The employee spent several years working with nonprofits that partnered with the Forest Service to improve forest health. 

“The work I was doing was absolutely supporting wildland firefighters. When you do preventative work around a community to reduce wildfire danger you make their jobs safer,” said the Forest Service employee from Colorado. “And the reason they are firing people — under the guise of poor performance — is a lie. Just two weeks ago I got a bonus and award for community service. They really don’t care how good you are, they just want you gone.”

Summit County’s Friends of the Dillon Ranger District support Forest Service work in the most trafficked ranger district in the White River National Forest, the busiest forest in the nation. 

“It’s dumbfounding,” said Doozie Martin, the executive director of the nonprofit, which has 1,000 volunteers who work on more than 60 local forest projects a year. “It’s shocking that the Forest Service is among the first agencies to be hit with this. We will do everything we can to support these folks. It’s such a confusing time. No one has answers about where this is heading.”

There are nine national forests in Colorado and two national grasslands spanning more than 11 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The 2.3 million-acre White River National Forest is the most trafficked forest in the country, with its 11 ski areas, eight wilderness areas and four reservoirs supporting 22,230 jobs and stirring an economic impact of $1.6 billion. The forest hosts about 18 million visitors a year, up from 10 million a decade ago. The ski areas in the White River National Forest send the U.S. Treasury more than $25 million in revenue-based rent payments every year. 

The Bureau of Land Management takes care of more than 8 million acres in the state for grazing leases, oil and gas development, mining and more uses that generate revenue for the federal government. The National Park Service hosts about 7.4 million visitors a year at its 13 national parks, monuments and historical sites in the state, covering about 500,000 acres. 

“The ripple effect is just starting,” said Liz Scully, whose Four Corners Guides and Scullbinder Ranch in Mancos learned  Friday that the BLM and park service might not be able to process permits to host guided packrafting trips and courses in the Four Corners area and the Southwest. 

Since Scully and her partner Steve Fassbinder began hosting one-of-a-kind packrafting adventures, they have sourced all their needs locally. They get rafts from Alpacka Raft in Mancos, supplies from 4Corners Riversports in Durango, tents from Ellis Canvas Tents in Durango and all their food is from farms, ranchers and coffee-roasters around Mancos. 

Without their permits, they will lose their business and their ability to support fellow small business owners in their region, Scully said. 

“The way you build a sustainable business in a community is you build community ties. You get your bread from the bakery up the road. You want Katie at the health food store to sustain her life. This is an endless web, with our one little business we support 20 other businesses,” said Scully, who fears she may have to return thousands of dollars from pre-booked packrafting trips. “That is not partisan. We have been building a business and building community for years.”

Protests in Rocky Mountain National Park, Pagosa Springs

Hundreds of Coloradans rallied Monday at Rocky Mountain National Park and in Pagosa Springs, protesting the firing of workers tasked with protecting public lands. The Forest Service has been chronically understaffed and underfunded in recent decades as nearly two-thirds of the agency’s budget is directed toward fighting wildfires.

Last fall the Forest Service said it was halting the hiring of seasonal employees for the coming year as it anticipated a decline from the $8.9 billion budget it requested to pay more than 30,000 workers to manage its 193 million acres and fight wildfires.   

“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,” reads a Feb.14 letter Colorado’s U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Reps. Joe Neguse, Brittany Pettersen and Jason Crow— all Democrats — sent to the new Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking that she reinstate 3,400 Forest Service workers. “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.”

Jamie Werner worked for the White River National Forest for a little more than a year after working many years for nonprofit partners of the Forest Service. 

“I just got fired for the first time in my career,” she said Tuesday. She also got the email informing her she was being fired for poor performance. Her most recent regional forester award and performance appraisal said she “demonstrates commitment and personal responsibility to strive for excellence.”

Werner was a program management specialist working on the plan to develop recreational infrastructure and protect resources around Sweetwater Lake in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and also making sure the history of the Ute Tribe and the 10th Mountain Division were included in development of the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. 

“All of that apparently is not in the public interest and despite performance appraisals, I was apparently very bad at it,” she said. “I didn’t join the Forest Service for the pay. Like my colleagues, I wanted to steward our public lands and serve my community. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking to see my colleagues be told that not only does their work not matter but they aren’t even doing it that well and their lives and livelihoods are being upended.”