As thousands of U.S. Forest Service workers get the axe amid mass federal staffing cuts, the Los Padres Forest Association is also feeling the impacts of loss, slowing its capacity to improve trails and preserve local wilderness.
Los Padres Forest Association (LPFA) Executive Director Bryan Conant said that the nonprofit’s primary purpose is to assist the U.S. Forest Service, and that LPFA staff is out in the Los Padres National Forest 350 days out of the year maintaining and improving trails.
“Over the course of any given day, I probably communicate with 10 different Forest Service staff, and I’m on the phone with multiple Forest Service staff each day, and we rely on them just like they rely on us,” Conant said. “You know, they rely on us to help provide them a service, and we will rely on them to give us the approvals or make sure that we have whatever we have in order to accomplish our work.”
But amid the Trump administration’s implementation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), thousands of Forest Service employees have been laid off since February.
“A lot of the projects that we’ve been working on with Forest Service staff have halted, have slowed down, and have stopped. And, you know, a few of the people that were let go, we were working with on a daily basis trying to get approvals for certain projects,” he said. “Not to mention, they’re good friends of ours and nice people—you’d never like to see that happen.”
One of the LPFA’s stalled projects is in the Lake Fire burn area, where thousands of acres on and near Figueroa Mountain burned last summer.
“We’re trying to get in there and do some protective measures on the trails. And so we’re waiting for some approvals on that,” Conant said. “And one of the gentlemen that was let go was working on that, so his workload had to get pushed on to somebody else who already had a full plate to begin with.”
Another area of major impact, Conant mentioned, is recreation staff who change toilet paper dispensers at campgrounds and ensure the area is clean.
In his 20 years working with the Forest Service, Conant said he has consistently seen understaffing, but within the past four years, he saw larger efforts toward filling these gaps.
Now, those efforts are gone, he said.
“We’re kind of like taking a step back again,” he said. “And so, for me, just kind of looking at it from what the Forest Service might look like in another three or four years, we may be right back where we were three or four years ago, where we didn’t have anywhere near the staff in order to complete the projects and the capacity that was needed.”
For now, LPFA has to wait on the Forest Service for further instruction amid stalled projects.
A U.S. Forest Service representative told the Sun via email it is doing the best it can with its current budget to continue operations.
“It is our intent to maintain access to recreation opportunities to the greatest degree possible,” the representative wrote. “Additionally, USDA is reviewing all executive orders signed by President Trump, including a temporary hiring pause, and expects to share guidance on implementing them to agencies and mission areas as soon as possible.”
The email also referred to a March 5 statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The statement said that by March 12 all terminated probationary employees would be placed in pay status and be provided with back pay from their date of termination.
“The department will work quickly to develop a phased plan for return to duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid,” it said.
This article appears in Apr 3-13, 2025.
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