Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Despite reliance on seasonal workers, Forest Service to make drastic cuts
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Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Forest Service employee plants a seedling in the Monongahela National Forest. Forest Service photo by Kelly Bridges, Flickr. ([link removed])

Due to a devastating budget shortfall, the U.S. Forest Service will not be hiring seasonal workers ([link removed]) for the next fiscal year, leaving thousands of people out of work and putting essential conservation and biodiversity work at risk.

The spending bill recently passed ([link removed]) by the U.S. House of Representatives gave the agency half a billion dollars less than it requested. Combined with recent cost-of-living increases for staff, the agency leadership was forced to make significant cuts to its budget. On a recent all-staff call ([link removed]) , Forest Service Chief Randy Moore acknowledged that the agency will be forced to struggle without its seasonal workforce, saying, “I know that this decision will affect your ability to get some of the critical work done. It’ll also be felt deeply by managers and units all across the agency.”

The Forest Service relies on the dedication and local ecological and institutional knowledge of seasonal or temporary workers to complete essential tasks like cleaning bathrooms and campgrounds, emptying trash cans, maintaining trails, welcoming people at visitor centers, and doing critical research work on the environment. Next summer, most of these tasks will have to be added to the workload for other permanent staff, or simply not done at all. As one employee put it ([link removed]) , “We cannot operate without our seasonal staff.”

This decision does not apply to the more than 11,000 temporary firefighting positions that the Forest Service hires every year. An agency spokesperson said the Forest Service hired more than 2,500 non-fire temporary employees in Fiscal Year 2024 ([link removed]) .


** Quick hits
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Bears Ears final management plan drops as Utah pushes another anti-public lands lawsuit

Land Desk ([link removed])

Despite reliance on seasonal workers, budget shortfalls force Forest Service to make drastic cuts

Vox ([link removed])

For the first time in 100 years, salmon swim freely in the Klamath River

Associated Press ([link removed])

Town of Crested Butte celebrates protections for its "Red Lady" mountain, a victory 47 years in the making

Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])

"We do all the things," says BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning

Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])

Lawmakers call on Biden to create Sáttítla National Monument in northern California

Navajo-Hopi Observer ([link removed])

The mother-daughter duo fighting fossil fuels in Colorado

High Country News ([link removed])

Prices at certain Arizona BLM sites could triple

Arizona Family ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” We are committed to working closely with our federal partners but let there be no mistake—Traditional Knowledge must be at the forefront of managing Bears Ears. This sacred land, its buttes, and the life within it deserve nothing less than respect, reverence, and guidance by the wisdom of the Indigenous peoples who have cared for and blessed it for centuries.”

—Curtis Yanito, Navajo Nation Council Delegate and Co-Chair of the Bears Ears Commission ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
Hail to Grazer, Queen of Fat Bear Week! 🐻👑

She’s beauty and she’s grace, she stuffed so much salmon in her face. Grazer’s fur-midable reign continues! Let us raise our paws and honor the royal highness of roundness, the majestic monarch of munching, the snacking sovereign of salmon. The back-to-back Fat Bear Week champion is one of the most successful and adaptable bears when it comes to bulking up for winter.

Thank you to everyone who followed along, cast a vote, and celebrated the importance of Katmai’s rich ecosystem. Special shoutout to the “official sponsor” of Fat Bear Week, the sockeye salmon.

Image: A bulked up bear (128 Grazer) at @katmainpp ([link removed])

#bears ([link removed]) #alaska ([link removed]) #competition ([link removed]) #winner ([link removed]) #crowned ([link removed]) #fatbearweek ([link removed]) #nationalparks ([link removed])

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