On February 11, 2025, the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) introduced the “Workforce Optimization Initiative,” which laid off about 3,400 workers from the United States (U.S.) Forest Services and about 800 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) workers.
This was all under the guise of saving the government’s debt from “unproductive and unnecessary programs.” The mass layoff impacted conservation workers, restoration workers, researchers, rangers and many other important staff. While this initiative was widely harmful to all public land workers, it mainly targeted probationary employees or those who have worked for a year or less.
As of March 20, federal judges ruled to reinstate the 1,000 National Park employees who were fired on Feb. 14. However, there was no mention of other staff fired from BLM and other non-National Park Forest Service staff.
Along with these cuts, there are also alleged reports that the U.S. Forest Service is preparing for another 7,000 layoffs in the coming months. These cuts to the public land’s workforce are dangerous because they will only weaken public lands, damage the natural environment and harm America’s economy.
The desert areas across Utah, Nevada and California were heavily affected by the DOGE initiative. Among the fired workers were six Joshua Tree National Park employees, 17 people across at least three desert national parks in Utah, 55 people from Utah’s BLM lands and five people from the Great Basin National Park in Nevada.
While this may seem like small numbers, the five workers from the Great Basin were 20 percent of the workforce. In addition, Joshua Tree National Park — located in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties — was understaffed by 30 employees, when six more were fired under DOGE’s initiative.
It is very difficult to manage these lands with the staff they have, not only due to the vastness of the desert, but because of extreme weather conditions and people’s waste dumping, including old tires, old carpets and construction materials.
Unfortunately, many people view Joshua Tree to be nothing but a dumping ground rather than a home to over 200 animals and 54 rare plants. The 2023 annual report of the Mojave Desert Land Trust — a partner of the Joshua Tree National Park — reported cleaning up nearly seven tons of trash. This dropped by a few tons from the 2022 reports, which announced cleaning up 10 tons of trash.
It’s safe to assume that illegal trash dumping continues to be a major issue for public parks, and with fewer staff to monitor the park’s gates and visitors, it is only inevitable for the amount of illegal dumping to rise. This is extremely dangerous because it leads to habitats being destroyed and wildlife being harmed.
When wildlife approaches piles of trash, they can mistake it for food and eat harmful plastic that hurts their stomachs. This eventually leads to animals starving because they are not eating real food. Additionally, illegal trash dumps contain toxic material from human waste or chemicals that are flushed out to waterways when it rains, polluting the little water available to desert wildlife.
The staff cuts will also have a significant impact on hiking trail safety and maintenance. Among the 3,400 staff fired were trail workers who keep trails maintained by clearing debris, controlling erosion and building support structures. Without these workers, public lands will see an increase in trail closures due to staff not being able to keep up with taking care of trails.
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is one of the most popular hiking trails that runs through Washington, Oregon and California. Because of its popularity, the trail’s conditions are regularly updated. As of April 22, there were three trail closures and alerts in California due to destroyed bridges.
When trails get damaged or simply do not have the people to look after them, people take it upon themselves to create “social trails.” Social trails are unofficial walkways through nature that greatly damage the environment by going over tree roots, which trample plants and insects. These unofficial trails can also cause harm to the people walking through them, as it’s easier to get lost or to twist your ankle on protruding roots.
Park trail workers stop people from creating these pathways by building clear pathways, protecting the environment and visitors. Without them, little ecosystems of plants, fungi, roots and insects get trampled by social trails, negatively impacting the larger ecosystem. Fewer insects carrying seeds and pollinating flowers lead to a decline in plant production, which leads to a decline in food for animals to graze.
Another issue of the growing number of unregulated visitors coming to Joshua Tree and other public lands is that fewer fees will be collected by the National Park Service. With less money being collected at the parks, the government is losing funding from visitors. This loss of money goes directly against DOGE’s initiative to reduce the federal government’s debt.
The weakening of public lands through DOGE’s initiative further opens up the opportunity for these lands to be taken advantage of by the Trump administration. They are already trying to use the BLM to approve mining plans in the Mojave Desert Preserve in San Bernardino County, which is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
If this is allowed, the implications would be devastating to the environment. It opens up all public land to be stripped of its natural resources, destroying ecosystems without discrimination, just to “boost the nation’s economy.” It is of no consequence to the federal administration that the Mojave Preserve is home to 800 rare plants. This plan will only weaken environmental protections on already struggling public lands.
The Trump administration and DOGE justify these cuts by arguing that these jobs are a “waste” of taxpayers’ money. They also justify resource harvesting by saying that America has been far too reliant on foreign countries for the nation’s materials. President Trump introduced an executive order to increase domestic timber production by cutting down the public land’s forests.
He claims that America’s economy is suffering from the amount of money spent on timber imports and that the country would benefit from the theoretical jobs created by domestic production. However, this is simply not true when comparing the money the U.S. spent on timber imports versus how much funding the National Parks brought in.
In 2023, America spent $24.8 billion on timber imports, which by itself is a significant number, but in the same year, the National Park Service brought in $55.6 billion. When people visit national parks, it’s not just the park that benefits; local communities also benefit from tourism.
For example, in 2023, another $26.4 billion was estimated to be poured into the communities surrounding the national parks. After comparing the costs of timber imports to the money raised from the National Parks, it is clear that there is no real justification for these harmful cuts to U.S. public lands. It would be far better for the economy and the environment if the Trump administration supported the National Parks.
U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management jobs are not a waste of taxpayers’ money. Cutting their jobs only weakens America’s economy and the natural environment while benefiting the Trump administration and companies looking to make a profit from stripping the land of all its natural resources.
The Trump administration has boasted about its federal cutbacks, but has not been as vocal about the public lands cuts. As a result, not many people are talking about it or know about the seriousness of these actions. More awareness must be brought to the harm being done to our public lands, and people must continue to support the protection of natural habitats, land and its resources.
