By Adam Gebauer
Twenty-plus years ago, I was a seasonal wildlife biologist, conducting surveys to threatened species in proposed timber harvest units. Many national forest districts rely on seasonal staff, as I was, to conduct fish and cultural resource surveys, mend fences and maintain the vast road networks that wind to some of our favorite places.
This year, the U.S. Forest Service is facing a half billion-dollar budget cut from their requested amount. This will likely have a large impact on us, the user groups. To adjust to this financial shortfall, the Forest Service has announced that it will not hire, other than firefighter workforce, any temporary season staff for 2025. Although it isn’t yet clear how many positions this will affect, in 2024 the Forest Service had more than 2,500 seasonal temporary job spots.
Many of these positions are the ones that interact with the public the most. Think of the seasonal trail crews that clear miles of trail each season, the recreation staff that make sure that campgrounds are clean and vault toilets are sanitary, and the climbing and backcountry rangers that patrol some of the most scenic areas (e.g. making sure the Enchantments are not being loved to death). These positions are also key to gaining experience and building the workforce of the forest service, and many are worried that without these positions the agency will lose the next generation of employees.
The forest service is taking actions to address this budget issue. Across the country, they have converted nearly 1,300 non-fire temporary (known as 1039 hires) employees to permanent status. The agency will maintain its 11,300-strong fire fighting force too. But there are concerns on agency related blogs and newsletters that this is signaling an agency-wide reduction in work force. Adding to that concern is the unknowns with the incoming administration and the Department of Government Efficiency.
We may be less affected regionally than other areas. Tribes in the region are working on lending a hand and having more engagement on their ancestral lands. Both the Colville Confederated Tribes and Kalispel Tribe have a Tribal Forest Protection Act (TFPA) agreement with the Colville National Forest. The Kalispel finalized an agreement that will increase the capacity to do a variety of work with the Pend Oreille watershed of the Colville. A focus of many of these potential projects will be aquatic and forest restoration. These TFPA’s bring increased capacity by utilizing tribal biologists, foresters, and engineers to complete projects on forest service property.
Regional national forests have also been working to address the staffing issue. The Idaho Panhandle National Forest was able to convert 18 temporary, seasonal positions to full-time. The Colville National Forest hired 45 non-fire temporary employees in 2024, and they were able to convert 21 of those positions to full-time. As was reported in the last issue of this magazine, programs like the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center have grown robust enough and have a close partnership with its NGO arm to not feel the financial hit to their program. Both of these forests already rely on the NGO partners to do a lot of their trail maintenance, including the Washington Trails Association, Backcountry Horseman, Evergreen East, Idaho Trails association, and other organizations.
Other forests might not be so lucky to have a strong volunteer base, so it might be time to grab a shovel and lend a hand.
Adam Gebauer will be hitting the skin track as often as possible and trying to train for his second half marathon this spring.
