The first full month of President Donald Trump’s administration has left the $1.2 trillion outdoor industry in total shock.
There are a few primary issues that raise serious concerns: First, the gutting of the workforce on public lands. Second, executive orders that decrease environmental barriers to timber harvesting; and third, the fear that the administration is going to sell off public lands.
On Feb. 14, in what is being referred to as the Trump Administration’s Valentine’s Day Massacre, the U.S. Forest Service fired approximately 3,400 people and the National Park Service fired around 1,000 people. Respectively this represents 10% of the Forest Service and 5% of the National Park Service. In an ever-evolving situation, Forest Service employees got a reprieve for 45 days when their jobs were temporarily reinstated by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board on March 5. The Trump administration restored jobs for dozens of National Park Service employees on Feb. 21 and announced plans for hiring 3,000 more seasonal workers, according to the Associated Press.
The original number of workers fired in Washington included 125 Forest Service personnel, five employees from Olympic National Park, 10 employees from Mount Rainer National Park and six employees from North Cascades National Park.
Mixed messages are everywhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stated that Forest Service employees will be rehired with back pay. However, the Outdoor Alliance is reporting that the Forest Service is also required to submit a “Reduction in Force” plan to lay off up to 7,000 people. A source at the National Park Service told me that the NPS will only be rehiring or holding those with jobs in “public safety.”
After the initial layoffs, recruitment emails for National Park workers were sent out widely. The assumed goal was to fill the gaps with seasonal employees.
The process of hiring and training these employees takes time and effort. Certainly the mentorship and training from year-round employees will be significantly weaker than it has been in the past. This means that visitor services — which were already strained — will further deteriorate.
Impact on wildfire management
In addition to this, the loss of federal lands workers will have an impact on wildfire management and mitigation. At the time of this writing, the reporting is unclear on how many wildland firefighters have lost their jobs. Many had job offers that were rescinded before the employees were onboarded.
In Washington state, the Department of Natural Resources is Washington state’s wildfire fighting force, with more than 1,300 employees, including more than 800 permanent DNR employees and 550 seasonal employees, according to the DNR website.
The actions have come as the U.S. Forest Service, which employs more than 10,000 firefighters, has been wracked by long-running deficits and a lack of support for the physical and mental health stresses inherent in the job, according to ProPublica in a February report.
Trump has long held strange ideas about forest management. He has repeatedly stated that managers should rake the forests to decrease wildfire risk. It is impossible to rake hundreds of millions of tons of downed wood, trees and brush, often on steep slopes far from roads. An alternate idea that the president has proposed is increased thinning and logging.
The Trump administration issued two executive orders concerning timber harvesting on March 1. The first executive order allows logging and timber extraction on public lands to engage in a “streamlined” environmental review. And the second states that lumber is a product that is critical to national security because it is essential to construction and military infrastructure. They also state that these actions will decrease wildfire risk.
There are a wide array of problems with these orders. The “streamlined” environmental review will not take all aspects of a harvest into account. These have to be done properly to decrease wildfire risk. If they’re done poorly, they’ll have a minimal effect.
Timber harvests will certainly have a negative impact on recreation sites, steep slope stability in rain storms and will increase water pollution. And of course, a minimized environmental review could have additional negative impacts on endangered species.
Selling off public lands
The third issue that concerns the outdoor industry is the Trump administration’s desire to sell off public lands to create a sovereign wealth fund. This is a state-owned investment fund, built on budget surpluses. The problem is that the United States is $36 trillion in debt.
There has long been a desire within the Republican caucus to privatize public lands. Their most recent platform included the sale of public lands for housing. And indeed, the Supreme Court recently denied a lawsuit by the state of Utah to bring Federal Lands under state control. Utah wanted to develop or sell the lands.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has speculated that U.S. public lands could have a value as high as $200 trillion. This would be more than enough to start a fund. But it would also mean that public lands would be sold off to the highest bidder.
In addition to these primary issues, secondary issues that scare the outdoor industry include the defunding of avalanche centers; the possibility that tariffs will increase the cost of outdoor clothing and equipment; the loss of weather information from places like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And, of course, climate denialism.
The loss of hard-working park rangers is heartbreaking. And the process of monetizing our public lands through poorly vetted timber harvests or by simply selling them off is terrifying. One of our greatest assets as a nation is the public lands that we cherish. It would be catastrophic now and for generations to come to ruin that legacy.
Jason D. Martin is a professional climbing guide, mountain rescue volunteer and one of the owners of the American Alpine Institute. He is a regular contributor to CDN on outdoor recreation.
Guest writer: The outdoor industry’s biggest worries with Trump administration actions
Gutting of workforce, timber harvesting and selling off public lands are all concerns
The first full month of President Donald Trump’s administration has left the $1.2 trillion outdoor industry in total shock.
There are a few primary issues that raise serious concerns: First, the gutting of the workforce on public lands. Second, executive orders that decrease environmental barriers to timber harvesting; and third, the fear that the administration is going to sell off public lands.
On Feb. 14, in what is being referred to as the Trump Administration’s Valentine’s Day Massacre, the U.S. Forest Service fired approximately 3,400 people and the National Park Service fired around 1,000 people. Respectively this represents 10% of the Forest Service and 5% of the National Park Service. In an ever-evolving situation, Forest Service employees got a reprieve for 45 days when their jobs were temporarily reinstated by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board on March 5. The Trump administration restored jobs for dozens of National Park Service employees on Feb. 21 and announced plans for hiring 3,000 more seasonal workers, according to the Associated Press.
The original number of workers fired in Washington included 125 Forest Service personnel, five employees from Olympic National Park, 10 employees from Mount Rainer National Park and six employees from North Cascades National Park.
Mixed messages are everywhere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stated that Forest Service employees will be rehired with back pay. However, the Outdoor Alliance is reporting that the Forest Service is also required to submit a “Reduction in Force” plan to lay off up to 7,000 people. A source at the National Park Service told me that the NPS will only be rehiring or holding those with jobs in “public safety.”
After the initial layoffs, recruitment emails for National Park workers were sent out widely. The assumed goal was to fill the gaps with seasonal employees.
The process of hiring and training these employees takes time and effort. Certainly the mentorship and training from year-round employees will be significantly weaker than it has been in the past. This means that visitor services — which were already strained — will further deteriorate.
Impact on wildfire management
In addition to this, the loss of federal lands workers will have an impact on wildfire management and mitigation. At the time of this writing, the reporting is unclear on how many wildland firefighters have lost their jobs. Many had job offers that were rescinded before the employees were onboarded.
In Washington state, the Department of Natural Resources is Washington state’s wildfire fighting force, with more than 1,300 employees, including more than 800 permanent DNR employees and 550 seasonal employees, according to the DNR website.
The actions have come as the U.S. Forest Service, which employs more than 10,000 firefighters, has been wracked by long-running deficits and a lack of support for the physical and mental health stresses inherent in the job, according to ProPublica in a February report.
Trump has long held strange ideas about forest management. He has repeatedly stated that managers should rake the forests to decrease wildfire risk. It is impossible to rake hundreds of millions of tons of downed wood, trees and brush, often on steep slopes far from roads. An alternate idea that the president has proposed is increased thinning and logging.
The Trump administration issued two executive orders concerning timber harvesting on March 1. The first executive order allows logging and timber extraction on public lands to engage in a “streamlined” environmental review. And the second states that lumber is a product that is critical to national security because it is essential to construction and military infrastructure. They also state that these actions will decrease wildfire risk.
There are a wide array of problems with these orders. The “streamlined” environmental review will not take all aspects of a harvest into account. These have to be done properly to decrease wildfire risk. If they’re done poorly, they’ll have a minimal effect.
Timber harvests will certainly have a negative impact on recreation sites, steep slope stability in rain storms and will increase water pollution. And of course, a minimized environmental review could have additional negative impacts on endangered species.
Selling off public lands
The third issue that concerns the outdoor industry is the Trump administration’s desire to sell off public lands to create a sovereign wealth fund. This is a state-owned investment fund, built on budget surpluses. The problem is that the United States is $36 trillion in debt.
There has long been a desire within the Republican caucus to privatize public lands. Their most recent platform included the sale of public lands for housing. And indeed, the Supreme Court recently denied a lawsuit by the state of Utah to bring Federal Lands under state control. Utah wanted to develop or sell the lands.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has speculated that U.S. public lands could have a value as high as $200 trillion. This would be more than enough to start a fund. But it would also mean that public lands would be sold off to the highest bidder.
In addition to these primary issues, secondary issues that scare the outdoor industry include the defunding of avalanche centers; the possibility that tariffs will increase the cost of outdoor clothing and equipment; the loss of weather information from places like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And, of course, climate denialism.
The loss of hard-working park rangers is heartbreaking. And the process of monetizing our public lands through poorly vetted timber harvests or by simply selling them off is terrifying. One of our greatest assets as a nation is the public lands that we cherish. It would be catastrophic now and for generations to come to ruin that legacy.
Jason D. Martin is a professional climbing guide, mountain rescue volunteer and one of the owners of the American Alpine Institute. He is a regular contributor to CDN on outdoor recreation.
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