In California, summer could be on the chopping block.
Almost 4,000 campsites across many of California’s 18 national forests could close for part or all of the summer season, according to an internal United States Forest Service spreadsheet viewed by The New York Times on Friday. These potential shutdowns follow a wave of federal government firings and budget freezes last month that have led to staffing shortages and stalled contracts for basic services like pumping toilets.
While national forests are sometimes less well-known than national parks, they’re often more accessible, with a wider variety of uses and lower fees to enter and camp. They attract motorcyclists, day hikers, ATV users, horseback riders, boaters and backpackers, as well as ranchers who graze cattle, foresters who log trees and even miners who prospect for gold.
In an internal email from the Forest Service on Feb. 18, forest supervisors for Region 5, which oversees California, were instructed to list public facilities that could close this year as a result of budget cuts and staff shortages. The United States Forest Service did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
The email noted that “unforeseen impacts and changed conditions, as well as financial limitations may render some sites unsafe, or too challenging to open to full capacity in 2025.” It was sent less than a week after at least 2,000 employees were terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk.
With a diminished work force, not only will scientific research at these sites suffer, but visitors will struggle to find clean and accessible facilities. And, a heightened risk of wildfires could put nearby communities at risk.
Almost a dozen current and recently fired staff members in Region 5 who spoke to the Times confirmed that firings and an inability to pay contractors had affected the majority of their forests.
At Inyo National Forest, where 26,000 people visit the tallest peak in the contiguous United States each year via the Mount Whitney trail, a 75 percent reduction in staff would result in less removal of human waste, a reduced capacity to respond to search-and-rescue calls, and difficulty maintaining trail signs, according to the spreadsheet. Kennedy Meadows, a campground with 37 sites near the Mount Whitney trail — one of the culminating experiences for thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail — could close for the season.
The team that manages the Lake Tahoe Basin area noted a 33 percent reduction in recreational staff and the “termination of the only permanent wilderness ranger position” for Desolation Wilderness, one of the most popular wilderness areas in the United States, according to the Forest Service.
Andrew Peterson, 31-year-old biologist, was fired with just 10 days left in the probationary period for his position leading a fisheries crew.
“People will definitely see impacts to services, particularly around overall cleanliness,” Mr. Peterson said. Plus, research would be diminished, increasing the risk to species that help these forests thrive. “Every year that we don’t actively work to help our threatened and endangered species,” he said, “the more threatened and endangered they become.”
Last year, Mr. Peterson earned roughly $46,000. As a seasonal worker in years before, he made about half that. He and his wife live with two roommates to afford the high cost of living around Lake Tahoe.
Budget issues at the Forest Service predated the terminations last month. Employees said their forests in California’s Region 5 had been underfunded for at least a year. The Tahoe management unit typically employ up to 50 temporary workers every summer, but, with a series of budget cuts and a hiring freeze, it is unclear if any will be hired this summer.
These closures could also limit visitor access to information and permits for backpacking and firewood collection. At least three visitor centers in Eldorado National Forest, which borders the Lake Tahoe region, could close because of low staffing, including the “loss of all administrative staff” at the district office, according to the spreadsheet. Almost a dozen visitor centers in Lassen, Shasta Trinity, San Bernardino and Sequoia were also at risk of closing.
At Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, four of the five front desk staff members were fired, according to former employees. The front desks at the region’s four district offices will have reduced days or hours, according to the spreadsheet. Former employees said only one office remained fully open in February because a public affairs specialist agreed to work the front desk in addition to performing the duties of another full-time job.
Poorly maintained trails could contribute to increased risk from wildfires. Adam Forsell, a 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran who helped maintain trails at Six Rivers before he was terminated, said firefighters depend on trails to contain fires, helping workers to suppress fires more quickly.
“A well-maintained trail can be the difference between a fire staying relatively small or becoming the next campaign fire,” Mr. Forsell said, using the term for large and long-term wildfires.
Many Forest Service workers who are not full-time firefighters are still trained to fight fires and coordinate firefighting efforts through a certification program known as Red Card. At least five terminated staff members from Six Rivers interviewed for this article are certified.
Joey Gallagher, 32, and her husband, Tyler Padian, 33, worked as archaeologists at Six Rivers before they were fired on Feb. 14, about a month before their probationary periods were to end.
“With all these staff terminated out of nowhere, we can’t do the thinning and prescribed burns that keep forests healthy and keep fires from becoming catastrophic,” Ms. Gallagher said. Last summer, she and Mr. Padian helped on the Boise and Hill fires that burned more than 20,000 acres near the small, rural communities of Orleans and Willow Creek.
“Both fires were heading toward very populated areas and without the Forest Service’s wildland firefighters, they could’ve destroyed towns,” said Scott Williams, a 32-year-old botanist for Six Rivers who also has Red Card certification. He was halfway through a two-year probation period, and had just received a performance award, when his boss called him, in tears, to tell him he had been fired.
While the Trump administration has approved 5,000 temporary hires for the National Park Service, after firing roughly 1,000 probationary employees, the Forest Service, which manages more than twice the amount of land, had not been approved to expand hiring as of Wednesday.
