How hollowing the federal workforce affects the Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Compounding the federal hiring freeze from Congress in 2024, the new presidential administration is now offering a differed resignation and severance offering until September for all federal employees. For the Wasatch-Cache National Forest – the most visited forest in the country, reaching the volume of the three busiest national parks combined in a year – that looks like no seasonal workers and no job postings for permanence. It will leave crews hollowed out to a third or even a quarter of their original size to care for the forests that span from Farmington to Sandy and all the way west past Stansbury Park. 

“What that looks like for the Wasatch is crazy because every part of the land that a person interacts with in the forest, is managed and looked after by a federal employee, by a forest service person,” said a recent resignee from the Forest Service who wished to remain anonymous as the Forest Service asked employees not to speak to the press. “This means there are so many fewer people looking after the land.”

No seasonal workers means a labor deficit, leaving human interactions and the spontaneity of nature to their own devices.

“Trails go through all of the seasons,” the resignee said. “We build drainages where rocks guide water off the trail. Those drainages get dug out every season so the trails can drain properly and not get eroded by turning into a stream. 

The drainages get dug out by seasonal workers. 

“The trail crew this coming season is going to be sometimes less than half of the people. That is for every trail from the top to the bottom, from Farmington to Sandy. And the Stansburys. Because no seasonals will be there,” the resignee said. “Seasonals do so much of the front facing part of taking care of the forest. They do all of the physical work. So many people are going to be using this space and no one to take care of it.” 

And that is just one thing. 

“In Millcreek, everything down to the signs, the parking lots, the bathrooms, the dog boxes, the trails, everything in that canyon is managed by us. There are 42 bathrooms that a contractor cleans twice a week, otherwise we are cleaning them basically every day. Replacing toilet paper or literally getting poo off the toilet,” the resignee said. “All of the dog boxes in the canyon have to get changed every one to two days, otherwise they are overflowing. All of the firepits have to get dug out because those will overflow too.” 

An impossible amount of work with no one to do the job. 

“There is so much maintenance,” the resignee said. “But that is what the seasonals do, is maintain those spaces.” 

It is then left up to the highly skilled veterans of the forest service, the career foresters left with a job, to be cleaning bathrooms instead of working on bigger picture projects that keep the health and livelihood of the forest and human interactions with it healthy and safe. 

“When you have sufficient crews, you’re able to go past just the maintenance portions and can work on projects and actually improve things,” the resignee said. “The Forest Service has so many uniquely skilled people in making natural improvements. But because we are so understaffed already, everyone gets so bogged down by this maintenance that to me, it’s a waste of really talented, skilled people.”

There was a worker who had been working for the forest for 11 seasons. But because they were a seasonal worker, and a professor during the other half of the year, they will no longer have a job with the forest service. 

“They are so skilled and exactly the type of person the forest needs and the forest is so lucky to have that person too. They have cared for the forest every season, but that’s the thing, they do seasons. None of those people can come back.” 

If it’s not a federal worker, then who? The human footprint and the spontaneity of the natural world will haunt the ghost crews as the snow melts. 

“Half our job is to look after the land, to make sure the ways people are recreating and happenings on the land is not hurting the environment,” the resignee said. “If no one is out there, people abuse the land naturally, it’s going to be our public land that is being damaged. The land is losing, the people recreating are losing.” 

Every year people are recreating more than ever, with the fewest people caring for the land than ever. Since this is handled federally, the resignee says it is not based on the community’s wants or needs. 

“In any mountain town, the town relies on the mountains and the health of the mountains. Specifically for Salt Lake, we get our water from those canyons,” the resignee said. 

“We cannot be having overflowing dog poo in our waters. Or people swimming and disturbing the riverbeds.” 

“The only people monitoring are the rangers and they’re only going to be one to five people of the original 10–12-person crew now. They have to go to Big and Little and then monitor the every-other-dog-day and bike day in Millcreek. We can all agree a little disturbance is OK, but the volume at which people visit the tri-canyons has to be regulated. That is our drinking water. The health of that water is the health of our city.” 

Seasonals, the proletariat of our eco-futures, also patrolled on high-volume weekend days to make sure the land has a voice and people advocating for it. 

“There are boots on the ground in the Wasatch every day of the year, for all hours in some places. It is so used, year round, in such extreme conditions, the Wasatch is pounded by a lot of people.” 

The hollowing of federal workers looks like, for the Wasatch Front, overflowing dog boxes in Millcreek, no toilet paper and fire pits full of billowing ash. 

“And trash. And graffiti. That is all going to the wayside,” the resignee said. “What is it going to look like to go on a trail for the first 100 feet with a bunch of graffiti everywhere? It doesn’t feel like you’re out in the wilderness. Ultimately, it’s sad because it’s our federal land, it will naturally get trashed, and even dangerous, when it’s not kept up.” 

Thankfully, there are a lot of partners with the forest who equally bring care and advocacy to the Wasatch-Cache. 

“Salt Lake and the Wasatch are really lucky to have a lot of partners that do a lot of work as well,” the resignee said. “Cottonwood Canyon Foundation, The Climbers Alliance,” Save Our Canyons, Friends of Alta, Wasatch Mountain Club, Salt Lake County, Central Wasatch Commission, town of Brighton, most of the resorts, all take volunteers to show up for the Wasatch in these hollow times.