US Forest Service workers laid off, concerned for the future

Benjamin Sears was a member of the Sandia Ranger District in New Mexico. He's worried for his former colleagues now out of a job, and what this means for New Mexico public lands.

Benjamin Sears was a member of the Sandia Ranger District in New Mexico. He's worried for his former colleagues now out of a job, and what this means for New Mexico public lands.

You Dozens of people were protesting for the workers who were laid off in Yosemite National Park. They even flew the American flag upside down off El Capitan. 1000 National Park workers were told their job was terminated on February 14. The day is now being called by some the Valentine's Day massacre. This email was sent to Andrea Townsend, *** specialist at. Attached to the email was *** termination notice, basically outlining that I was still in my probationary period, meaning I had been in my specific position for less than one year, and that my skills and knowledge did not meet the current needs of the administration. President Trump hasn't publicly made *** comment on the cuts impacting national parks, but on Sunday he posted *** meme to his social media account appearing to The federal employees targeted by the Department of Government efficiencies cuts. Townsend is confused about how she could be laid off when her role at the national park was funded through grant money. It made me really angry. I work really hard at my job. I have two degrees. I studied fishers my entire life, and to tell me that I'm not meeting the standards of my job, um, Yeah, like I said, it's *** complete lie. Townsend believes this is just *** step towards privatizing public land. She says she's concerned about workers who are left to manage the national park. They're just gonna have to work now even harder to continue to provide. The experience that visitors expect here in Yosemite and to protect the resources here in Yosemite, Townsend says she's considering all options for getting her job reinstated, which includes an appeal through the Department of Interior National Park Service and *** possible class action lawsuit.

US Forest Service workers laid off, concerned for the future

Benjamin Sears was a member of the Sandia Ranger District in New Mexico. He's worried for his former colleagues now out of a job, and what this means for New Mexico public lands.

Benjamin Sears used to be a forestry technician with the Sandia Ranger District in New Mexico. He enjoyed his work and the people he worked with."It was a whole grab bag of different tasks," Sears said. "Taking care of the forest, taking care of the sites that have the most contact with the public."However, he and others he used to work with have been laid off due to government layoffs happening nationwide.Those who have been laid off received an email from the U.S. Forest Service saying people did not demonstrate a high enough performance in their position. Sears told sister station KOAT that there was a total of 41 people part of the Sandia Ranger District. Nine were let go. "They're supposed to give us a notification of why our performance was considered bad," Sears said. "All they did was say we were let go because our performance was insufficient."This is a trend happening across the country where probationary workers are being terminated. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also oversees the U.S. Forest Service, announced 2,000 probationary (non-firefighting employees) would be let go.However, workers like Sears have great concern for the future of public lands in New Mexico if this trend continues."If there's a fire this summer, I don't know what's going to happen," Sears said. For the time being, he said he will be volunteering at the Rio Grande Nature Center and is helping his former employees apply for unemployment.

Benjamin Sears used to be a forestry technician with the Sandia Ranger District in New Mexico. He enjoyed his work and the people he worked with.

"It was a whole grab bag of different tasks," Sears said. "Taking care of the forest, taking care of the sites that have the most contact with the public."

However, he and others he used to work with have been laid off due to government layoffs happening nationwide.

Those who have been laid off received an email from the U.S. Forest Service saying people did not demonstrate a high enough performance in their position. Sears told sister station KOAT that there was a total of 41 people part of the Sandia Ranger District. Nine were let go.

"They're supposed to give us a notification of why our performance was considered bad," Sears said. "All they did was say we were let go because our performance was insufficient."

This is a trend happening across the country where probationary workers are being terminated. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also oversees the U.S. Forest Service, announced 2,000 probationary (non-firefighting employees) would be let go.

However, workers like Sears have great concern for the future of public lands in New Mexico if this trend continues.

"If there's a fire this summer, I don't know what's going to happen," Sears said.

For the time being, he said he will be volunteering at the Rio Grande Nature Center and is helping his former employees apply for unemployment.

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