USFS Hiring Freeze Will Impact Recreation in Washington
In Washington State we are fortunate to have access to a wide diversity of public lands for recreation. Public lands comprise about 44% of the total land area in Washington, with over 9 million acres managed by the USFS – a staggering 22% of all land in the state! Some of our beloved trail systems in Eastern Washington including #2 Canyon (Wenatchee), Ski Hill (Leavenworth), and Chickadee (Methow) have been developed on USFS-managed lands, in addition to hundreds of miles of backcountry multi-use trails throughout the state that are open to mountain biking.
The USFS has been chronically underfunded for decades and relies heavily on seasonal and temporary workers to provide many of their essential services to support recreation, including trail crews, backcountry rangers, and technicians to clean and stock restrooms, remove trash and maintain recreation infrastructure.
Amid ongoing budget concerns, exacerbated by additional proposed cuts for the 2025 fiscal year, the USFS has announced a hiring freeze for all seasonal and temporary employees, except for critical fire fighting positions, to last through 2025. These cuts will likely have a profound impact on recreation in Washington state as fewer staff will be available to manage the ever increasing demand for recreation on our public lands. On the ground we can expect to see more unmaintained trails, possible closures of recreation sites due to an inability to provide services, and a lower education and enforcement presence, resulting in increased resource damage.
What can you do about this?
The spending bill recently passed by the US House of Representatives includes over a half billion dollar reduction in funding for the USFS. As a result, the current hiring freeze has been made in an effort to prepare for the possibility of drastically reduced funding. There is still some uncertainty as to the final 2025 budget, since the Senate has not yet approved a spending bill. We expect that the incoming President and Congress are likely to support additional cuts to government agencies and programs, including the USFS.
Now is the time to speak up and let your representatives and senators know how you feel about these budget cuts and their potential impacts on recreation and our public lands.
Please consider reaching out to your representatives and senators to express your support for recreation and USFS funding. The following link provides a sample letter drafted by our Outdoor Alliance recreation partner, The Mountaineers, and is easy to customize and send electronically.
What does this mean for Evergreen and what are we doing?
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance is a member of Outdoor Alliance of Washington, a group of recreation partners who collectively advocate for outdoor recreation in our state. Outdoor Alliance is working to advocate for funding and to request exemptions for grant-funded seasonal positions.
In partnership with the USFS, Evergreen will continue to do trail maintenance on USFS lands to address ongoing maintenance needs. We currently have a Recreational Trails Program grant through the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office that provides funding for trail maintenance throughout the state. We also have contracts with the USFS in the Colville and Okanagan-Wenatchee Forests, supported by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), to address backlogged maintenance. We will continue to support recreation on USFS lands by providing maintenance assistance and advocating for continued agency funding, as well as a renewal of the GAOA in 2025.
Map showing USFS managed lands in Washington (in green).
(this is a screenshot from the interactive map on the USFS site, https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/home/?cid=fsbdev2_026675)