Maintaining the country’s forests takes an army of Forest Service workers, but recent job cuts have reduced the number of its soldiers, which some say could lead to unintended consequences.
Dalyn Grindle, Jack Corney and Tim Leedy all worked at Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest — the United States’ first federally protected national forest, and a park that’s always buzzing with activity, even in winter, with people snowmobiling, riding bikes, hiking and rock climbing.
But they were among 17 employees recently fired from the Shoshone National Forest, according to a senior Forest Service official. Grindle, Corney and Leedy each received a letter that said they were being fired for poor job performance, but they don’t buy it.
“It’s not the real reason,” Grindle told CBS News.
“You know, I put my heart and soul under that job and that’s just not true,” Leedy said.
Every summer, tens of millions of Americans visit the U.S.’s 154 national forests, which span over 193 million acres, but this summer, the campgrounds and trails might look a little different.
“I think there’s a lot of unforeseen consequences that the general public doesn’t- aren’t always aware of,” Grindle said.
Corney noted part of his job was picking up trash and clearing trails so people could “access the wilderness. And that’s just, that’s not going to happen this year.”
The local ranger station in Lander, Wyoming, used to be where visitors could go to get information about the forest, such as good places to camp, trails to hike or safety tips. But thanks to to the recent firings, the station won’t be open any time soon.
Cutbacks at the Forest Service also come as wildfires nationwide grow fiercer and more frequent.
Grindle , Corney and Leedy were all qualified firefighters, no longer available should a blaze erupt in the forest.
