A federal hiring freeze for seasonal US Forest Service workers it could mean fewer people putting out abandoned campfires, building trails and preventing wildfires in Colorado next year.

The freeze is expected to affect 156 temporary seasonal positions in Colorado. These employees cover a wide range of critical tasks: wildfire prevention and education, campsite management and biological field work, as well as trail construction and maintenance.

Local government leaders said the staff cuts will be felt hard in Colorado’s central mountains, where heavily trafficked Forest Service lands dominate much of the area and are the center of recreational tourism that fuels economies. Several counties pay to fund seasonal positions, but the hiring freeze means those paid positions could remain vacant, putting years-old agreements in jeopardy.

“We’re really concerned,” said Gary Tennenbaum, Pitkin County’s director of open space and trails. “We would lose a pretty significant capacity to manage recreation in the county.”

The hiring freeze, announced by US Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in September, is the result of a potential $500 million budget cut for the agency next fiscal year.

“We simply cannot get the same amount of work done with fewer employees,” Moore said on a staff call. “So, in other words, we’re going to do what we can with what we’ve got. We’re not going to try to do everything that’s expected of us with fewer people.”

The Forest Service manages about one-fifth of Colorado’s land, including popular recreation areas such as Lake BrainardTHE Indian Peaks Wilderness and the Maroon Bells Scenic Area. Some counties, such as Pitkin, are made up primarily of Forest Service lands.

Summit County voters in 2018 passed a property tax increase to pay for critical community needs, including wildfire mitigation. Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue said the county spent hundreds of thousands of dollars from that tax increase to pay seasonal Forest Service crews – including about $736,000 last year. Over 80% of the land in Summit County is managed by the service.

“Six years ago, we already recognized that the USFS was woefully understaffed, and despite the fact that we’re paying for these positions, they’re about to disappear again,” Pogue said.

The impact of the deficit

The Forest Service is operating under a continuing resolution until Dec. 20 while Congress considers a spending bill.

“Given that the agency is operating under a continuing resolution and that we anticipate a constrained budget environment in fiscal year 2025, we are making decisions to plan for such a scenario,” said Donna Nemeth, spokeswoman for the Forest Rocky Mountain Region . Service.

The frozen posts at the local level include three in the regional office. Here are the number of frozen stands in each national forest in Colorado:

• Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests: 29
• Rio Grande National Forest: 12
• Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grasslands: 28
• Pike-San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron-Comanche National Grasslands: 31
• San Juan National Forest: 23
• White River National Forest: 30

The cuts won’t affect wildland firefighting positions — though the service has also struggled to fill those — but will limit crucial fire mitigation work, such as reducing fuel and clearing dead brush. The hiring freeze will also mean fewer people available to make sure campfires are put out and educate campers about fire restrictions and safety.

“They’re the foundational strategies that keep our community safe,” Pogue said, noting that 90 percent of fires in Summit County start as improperly extinguished campfires.

“In a Pickle”

Like Summit County, Pitkin and Eagle counties also pay for seasonal Forest Service positions. The three counties fund the stations because they are critical to the communities, but the Forest Service doesn’t have the money to do so. Those positions – despite being paid – are also frozen for the foreseeable future.

Eagle County and cities within the county spend about $160,000 a year for a crew of four to eight temporary seasonal workers. The White River National Forest covers most of the county and is the most visited national forest in the country, said Marcia Gilles, the county’s director of open space and natural resources.

Seasonal employees patrolled congested areas, helped clean up trash, and educated people about how to be stewards of the land. Without Forest Service personnel on the ground, Gilles expected more people to break the rules and a greater chance for wildfires.

“It’s really going to slide back a lot,” she said. “The lack of presence on the pitch will really be felt.”

Eagle County is considering working with youth corps or nonprofits to complete some of the work seasonal employees normally do, Gilles said.

All three counties are working with Forest Service officials to find alternative solutions that could help fill the workforce.