Raise a Stink. DOGE Directly Effects Your Public Lands.
“On Friday, after ten months of permanent employment with the Forest Service on the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, preceded by years of seasonal employment, work with partners, and volunteer work, I was terminated due to my probationary status. I have always been a model employee, taking on far more work than my position description required and consistently receiving good performance reviews. While it is comparatively easy to terminate probationary federal employees, there still must be reason behind that termination. I will share with you the reasoning provided to over 3,000 USFS employees with all different sorts of jobs and duties:
"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. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position...with the agency and the federal civil service effective immediately."
This statement was not accompanied by any further information or proof of this lack of performance. That proof does not exist, based on performance reviews and evaluations, nor is it possible that 3,000 people, all of whom conveniently are still in their probationary periods and just went through quarterly evaluations, are suddenly not performing up to standard. This is a grossly insulting act of overreach. Lacking required proof of any true performance issues, indiscriminately terminations on this scale are illegal.
As a federal employee, I am the first to acknowledge that the bureaucracy of the federal government could certainly use some trimming, and that it is not a particularly efficient machine. However, if this was about efficiency and merit, positions would have been analyzed, job performance would have been considered, and I and most of my colleagues would not have been terminated. Our culture is to take on whatever needs to be done to fulfill our mission, without expectation of compensation or acknowledgement. Most of us are highly qualified professionals, willing to work for wages far lower than we could find in the private sector, because we care about the mission and the land and people we serve.
Nearly half of the SNRA’s already small staff was terminated. All visitor service and administrative positions working out of Stanley were terminated, meaning the doors to our offices will be closed. We will not be able to help the public with questions, provide advice or guidance, offer any education programs, swear in Junior Rangers, or answer phones. In the case of another wildfire similar to the devastating Wapiti and Bench Fires, there will be no one to answer questions or provide guidance--not to mention the loss of a dozen ready-reserve employees who help fight fire and support fire efforts. The SNRA hosts millions of visitors a year, many of whom pass through the doors of our visitor centers, interact with our rangers, volunteers, and interns, and engage with our education and programming. Our entire wilderness and trails field crews have also been terminated. Who will maintain the trails on the SNRA, cut the many trees that will fall in the burn areas and block trail access, pack out trash, toilet paper, and human waste from popular campsites, and maintain campsites? Many of our recreation staff, range staff, and fish crew were also terminated. Who will clean the toilets, restock toilet paper, fix the water systems, and maintain campgrounds, roads and buildings? Who will monitor and combat invasive weeds? Who will track populations of endangered salmon? We are left with a skeleton crew who cannot fill the shoes of those terminated, even if they are directed to do so.
This was a deliberate move to weaken and undermine federal agencies and a direct attack on our public lands. The villainization of federal employees as the problem--when our wages are a laughable fraction of the federal budget as a whole and we have dedicated our lives in service of the American people--is beyond insulting and degrading, and this termination action has only furthered that offense. I am heartbroken for myself, for my beautiful, dedicated coworkers and community, and most of all for this land and ecosystem that I love.
Nothing can erase the harm done, but you can call your representatives. Write to them. Raise a stink. If you are a public lands user, what happened will affect you. Let the people in power know that you care. If you don‘t, good luck with your future visits to your public lands. Bring your own toilet paper. The bathrooms will be closed.”
Written By Clare Vergobbi