US Forest Service Hiring Freeze Could Have Long-Term Impacts

Back in September with little media attention, the United States Forest Service (USFS) announced a hiring freeze for the next fiscal year, meaning the agency won’t be able to hire any seasonal employees in 2025. The decision stems from budget shortfalls as appropriations from Congress fell about half a billion dollars short of the Forest Service’s request and impacts around 2,400 seasonal positions, including employees who perform trail work, facilities maintenance and ecological and climate research. The freeze will not, however, affect the hiring of the Forest Service’s 11,300 seasonal firefighters.

USFS seasonal staff are essential for implementing projects like reforestation, wildfire mitigation, climate monitoring and carbon sequestration research—efforts that directly address climate change. Conservationists are worried that this temporary hiring freeze will have long-term impacts.

Many observers worry that the forest service, which is already having a problem living up to all of its commitments, Now will fall further behind on them. Especially the commitments it’s made in the DEIS for the Northwest Forest Plan amendments 

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20122024/us-forest-service-hiring-freeze-impacts/