The extralegal firing of Forest Service employees by Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” will undermine the agency’s firefighting capabilities. Musk’s pseudo-agency claimed that firefighters were exempt from the purge, but as reported by Kylie Mohr in High Country News, a Forest Service fire officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We lost the whole suite of support.”
Many of the people fired have certifications, informally called “red cards,” which qualify them for various roles critical to wildland firefighting. More than 75% of the employees fired under Musk’s guidance hold red cards, according to Frank Beum, a retired regional forester.
On March 5, the independent Merit Systems Protection Board ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate almost 6,000 employees, allowing many Forest Service employees to remain on the job, but the order expires April 18 (shortly after Forest News goes to press).
In spite of the ruling, fired employees still fear losing their jobs because of President Donald Trump’s March 13 deadline for federal agencies to submit plans to reduce the size of their workforces.
Photo: Students at the Mid-Willamette Valley Fire School complete on-the-ground wildfire training to earn their “red card” certifications (BLM photo).
