Forest workers Mikayla Moors and Ian McDonald lost their jobs earlier this month, joining at least 90 U.S. Forest Service employees in Colorado laid off in recent government cutbacks.

The firings are part of a campaign by the Trump administration to reduce what it described as “waste, bloat and insularity” in the federal bureaucracy. In particular, the White House is targeting positions that perform functions “not mandated by statute or other law,” with specific emphasis on dismantling “diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.”

Speculation abounds over what the cuts mean for state and federal management of forests in Colorado. Objecting to the cuts, Democrats said Forest Service workers maintain the health of Colorado’s headwaters and wildlife habitats, as well as help decrease wildfire risks.     

Others speculated that, with fewer federal workers, some of the responsibility would fall on local resources, including volunteers. 

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture blamed the Biden administration for hiring thousands of probationary, non-firefighting employees — “with no plan in place to pay them long term.” 

Colorado boasts of four national parks and 11 national forests, offering hundreds of campgrounds, outdoor recreation and tourism within 13.2 million acres of forest land.

The layoffs come at a time shortly before thousands of permanent, seasonal U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service workers are preparing to go back to work for the spring, summer and fall seasons nationwide. A spokesperson for the National Park Service said the agency is still hiring seasonal workers.

The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control said it is too soon to tell what long-term effects the change in federal workforce might mean, noting that fire danger is a “combination of fuels, weather, topography” and other factors, such as people and houses, and that it exists “without respect to the response capacity of a fire agency.”

Firings allege subpar performance

Moors and McDonald were among the workers who received a termination letter on Feb. 14. 

Moors said she had just accepted a position at the Bureau of Land Management’s office for Oregon and Washington and was ready to move out of Colorado. 

“I had all of my stuff packed up ready to go. My landlord was showing my apartment, ready to sign a lease, and I texted him before he was able to sign a new lease with a new renter,” she said. “Thankfully, that lease wasn’t signed, and I was able to keep my apartment here in Colorado.”

Download PDF

Moors had been working as an interpretive park ranger inside Rocky Mountain National Park for the last two years before accepting the administrative support assistant position with the Bureau of Land Management-Oregon in January.

The Oregon position had also been rescinded.

Download PDF

“I went through all the stages of grief. It still makes me upset to think about it,” she said. 

Moors got her start in public service on the Pikes Peak Highway as a Pikes Peak Highway ranger, where, she said, she found her “true calling for public service.” She then accepted the forestry technician role in May 2024 and moved to the Estes Park area.

Her termination letter alleged substandard performance, but, she said, she has proof to back her above-average employee performance. 

“I’ve been a stellar employee,” said Moors, who had since been invited by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse to be his guest on March 4 during the State of the Union address in Washington D.C. 

Download PDF

U.S. Department of Agriculture defends cuts

The agriculture department said the Biden administration over-hired workers, with no long-term concrete plan to pay for their salaries.

The agency confirmed the firing of about 2,000 probationary workers from the U.S. Forest Service and said they were not operational firefighters.

“It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to pay them long term. Secretary (Brooke) Rollins is committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted,” the agency said. 

McDonald, who lives in Steamboat Springs, was ready to start work in May as a recreation technician.

“I got a call with the district ranger and the forest supervisor and one of my other bosses, saying that I’ve been terminated and that all probationary employees were being terminated,” McDonald said. “They reassured me that the letter was going to say that it was performance issues, but all of them reassured me that that wasn’t the case, and that I had done a good job. So, that was nice to hear from my immediate supervisors.”

Part of McDonald’s job revolved around building and maintaining off-highway vehicle paths and other trails around the Routt National Forest near Steamboat Springs.

McDonald had been working as a forestry technician in a permanent seasonal role for five summers, while supplementing his time in the winter as a ski patroller on the slopes at Steamboat. That arrangement is not uncommon. McDonald said he is exploring legal options.

Cuts could put more pressure on volunteers 

Colorado Trail Foundation Executive Director Paul Talley said the cuts could impact work on the 567-mile long Colorado Trail, as the nonprofit plans for trail maintenance this spring, summer and fall.

“The biggest change for us, I think, is it’ll put more pressure on us to get more done with our volunteers,” Talley said. “We’re gonna have to take on some of the things that we were relying on doing in conjunction with the forest service.”

His group might also have issues with project approval because, he said, in “some districts they were cut so drastically that it’s not even clear who would approve it now.”

Like others, Tally expressed worries about Colorado’s ability to fight wildland fires.

In a letter sent to the Department of Agriculture, Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation asked Secretary Brooke Rollins to reinstate all 3,400 U.S. Forest Service workers.

“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,” they said.  

Download PDF

They emphasized the role that forest service workers play in maintaining public lands, supporting Colorado’s outdoor recreation economy and contributing to the health of rural communities.

Meanwhile, members of Colorado’s Republican congressional delegation said they broadly support the Trump administration’s approach.

“President Trump has made his priorities clear — to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government,” said U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, a Colorado Springs Republican, in a statement issued earlier this month. “I trust that this administration is working for the benefit of the American people.”

The cuts represent about 10% percent of the U.S. Forest Service workforce of 35,000 and about 5% of the 20,000 National Park Service employees. Overall, the cuts represent about 1.5 percent of the 280,000 employees hired in the last two years, with most still on probation and easier to fire, according to government data.

The overall civilian federal workforce stands at 2.3 million.

Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, has defended the agency’s actions, saying the goals, in addition to rooting out waste and bloat in government, include instilling a merit-based culture in federal government. 

“Hundreds of federal workers are being promoted daily every time we encounter excellence,” Musk said in one tweet. “The goal is to make the federal government a meritocracy as much as possible.”

Colorado Politics reporter Ernest Luning, as well as the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.