Tahoe National Forest Cuts Local Jobs After “Fork in the Road”

LOST SIERRA — Starting last Thursday, USDA fired at least 3,400 workers from its national workforce — ten percent of the US Forest Service’s 35,000 employees. The firings come one day after the deadline for the Trump administration’s “Fork in the Road” program, which encouraged employees to resign but stay on the government payroll through September. How many US Department of Agriculture employees accepted the deferred resignation option is unclear.

According to local Tahoe National Forest employees who prefer to remain anonymous, an unknown number of people were let go last Thursday without notice. This first wave aligns with federal reductions elsewhere across the country in that the initial firings were all employees still in their 12-month probationary period. One employee here in the Tahoe National Forest was just weeks away from fulfilling their probation. On Friday, employees hired through other grant-funded programs like ACE were told their positions would be eliminated this week. The American Conservation Experience (ACE) program funds employment and internships within the USFS for various positions.

While firefighter jobs appear unaffected so far, other roles supporting wildfire prevention are being cut. Employees who work on road and trail maintenance, timber production, recreation, biology, and watershed restoration are also impacted. These cuts may affect the ability of the North Yuba Resiliency Project to complete its goals by depleting the local workforce. Forest Service employees in probationary periods are more likely to be involved in fieldwork than their more senior counterparts.

The firings have raised concerns, considering the Forest Service is one of the largest employers in our region. Forest Service management and even higher-ups at the Department of Agriculture in Washington are unclear about the future as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to make cuts.