I knew I wanted to be a wilderness ranger the moment I met the lead wilderness ranger during my first temporary U.S. Forest Service position back in 2018. I took the long way to get there, working positions in botany, then trail crew, but finally found my way to my wilderness ranger “dream job.” It’s never that simple of course, and my small Forest Service recreation department required me to wear a variety of hats and complete whatever jobs needed doing. I started the season opening developed recreation sites with hazard tree assessments. I participated in the early season chainsaw logout of non-wilderness trails. I used my equestrian background to assist our mule packer with hauling in gear and materials for our Forest Service trail crew and non-profits and volunteer crews. I joined our trail crew with crosscuts and axes to remove as many logs from our wilderness trails as possible. When all the extra duties were accomplished, I loaded up my pack, picked up my shovel, and headed alone into the Wilderness. I was never completely alone, a few miles away in any direction were other rangers, just a radio call away. Our small but mighty wilderness crew was comprised of our permanent seasonal lead ranger, several temporary rangers like myself, and one or two Americorp interns. Working in a very busy Wilderness, there is never a shortage of work. There are always people to educate, there is always trash to remove, there are always illegal fire rings to disassemble and rehabilitate, and there are always people camping on fragile alpine vegetation. In the dry heat of summer, lightning peppers the landscape, and fires threatening people must be found and fought. There is a constant battle to manage the rapidly filling wilderness pit toilets, and deal with the ever-increasing piles of human waste from those that haven’t mastered the art of the “cathole.” Sometimes, when education isn’t enough, citations must be issued—but know that a wilderness ranger never reaches for their “ticket book” lightly. Despite the challenges, being out in the Wilderness educating people about their public lands and maintaining these beautiful spaces is the most rewarding job I have ever experienced. I would have continued to work as a temporary employee as long as they would let me do this work. In June 2024, after 9 temporary appointments, I began my first permanent seasonal position with the Forest Service. More than a thousand other long-term temporary employees, including many other wilderness rangers, were hired into permanent positions last year as well. It felt like the agency that has struggled with attrition and hiring for so long was finally building up the next generation of public land stewards to carry on the work of our predecessors. I was eager to learn the vast work of my mentor, friend, and lead wilderness ranger, who was approaching a well-deserved retirement. He began to teach me the grant application process. This is necessary because the on-the-ground Forest Service recreation employees in my state receive almost no direct federal funding and rely on competitive state recreation grants to fund their work. Read that sentence again—and remember it. Fast forward to September 2024. My coworkers and I come out of the woods to an announcement that the Forest Service will not be hiring any temporary employees for the 2025 field season. This devastating news hit hard. All around me, friends and coworkers who began to learn the jobs they cherished, and returned to year after year, were gone. Our wilderness ranger “crew” was now a crew of two. Despite losing our temporaries, we kept our chins up, because we had the recently-hired new cohort of permanent seasonal employees. We knew the next summer with bare-bones staffing would be incredibly challenging, but we are no strangers to doing more with less. I finished my field season, helped finish our grant applications, and received a glowing performance review from my supervisor. January 2025 was barely over when we received news that every probationary employee was being placed on a list. A probationary period is at least a one year—and up to three years—in which a new permanent employee must display through their performance that they are a good fit for their position. I was a little worried, but I had a fantastic performance review. Then came February 14, 2025. I begin getting texts from friends and old coworkers across the region. “People are being terminated from their positions!” I get the call myself in the afternoon—I am also being terminated from my position. We all receive an identical letter stating: “The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position.” Just like that, the career I have been tirelessly working toward is ripped away. Your public land stewards, the protectors of your Wilderness, were fired. Not due lack of funding, not due to lack of work, not due to poor performance, but due to a complete lack of understanding, and an act of cruelty against federal employees. The dust has had time to settle, and we can now assess the damage. All probationary Forest Service employees in “non-fire” positions were fired. There are almost no wilderness rangers left in my state and many of my neighboring states. Beyond Wilderness, there are almost no field-going recreation employees left. The temporaries are gone, the permanent seasonals are gone. Without staff, many ranger districts will struggle to even utilize volunteers or host Americorp interns. Our Congressionally-designated Wilderness areas, and public lands as a whole, are now in greater danger than they have ever been. Visitation continues to increase, and the presence of wilderness rangers is more important than ever. Without wilderness rangers, pit toilets will overflow, trash will pile up, more fragile alpine vegetation will be trampled by tents, feet, and fire rings, tripping over human and pet waste will become even more common, and already crowded areas likely will have no one to enforce wilderness permit requirements. I fear these precious, fragile places will have their wilderness character destroyed. If you value public lands, and wild spaces, it is time to stand up for Wilderness. |
