February 28, 2025
United States Senators and Representatives,
On behalf of our members, supporters, and volunteer stewards, we write with significant concerns regarding the recent mass firing of federal employees still within their probationary periods, particularly those individuals who had been employed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), USDA Forest Service (USFS) and the National Park Service (NPS). These firings are unprecedented (approximately 5,700 employees as of now) and made without regard to the agencies’ ability to carry out their mandates as required by law or the impacts on the management of our public lands. This loss of staff will have devastating effects on the protection and management of these lands and cause economic hardship to the communities that surround them. We urge Congress to immediately reverse these terminations and halt any further workforce reductions to our public land management agencies.
Our nation’s public lands are treasures to be stewarded by our land management agencies according to the missions for which Congress created them and the mandates dictated to them by law. It is these agencies whose employees are responsible for protecting these national treasures. These employees are educators, engineers, recreation specialists, permit processors, maintenance staff, campground hosts, front-facing park and forest rangers, wildlife biologists, backcountry safety patrollers, wildland firefighters, trail construction leaders, and all other kinds of professionals driven to serve their country with their expertise. With a steady decrease in staffing over the last decade, they are often overworked, underappreciated, and underpaid. Without them, however, the natural and cultural resources that belong to all Americans cannot be stewarded. They are vital to the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy, which is an engine of economic development for American communities throughout our nation.
These indiscriminate workforce reductions were made on the basis of abstract targets to reduce the federal workforce. The type or importance of the positions and reliance of Americans on their work were not considered. Critical positions such as maintenance, public health, human resources, and education positions have been terminated throughout the country.
Neither was the human factor of these citizens considered. Some who have trained for years to develop the expertise to serve their country, or were recently promoted in recognition of their service, were let go. Others who uprooted lives, moved across the country, and have exhausted their savings simply because they were called to serve the public were let go. Even high-level position holders, with long histories at one agency who simply transferred to another agency or earned a promotion, were also let go as they were technically still on probation. These neighbors, colleagues, and community members pay taxes, buy groceries and are vital contributors to their local economies, where the loss of their jobs will cause real hardship.
We urge Congress to immediately reverse these terminations and halt any further
workforce reductions.
Sincerely,
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