New Mexico's Gila National Forest loses workers to Trump firings
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Conservation advocates say the Trump administration's firing of probationary U.S. Forest Service workers in New Mexico and other Western states could ruin summer vacations - and even prove life-threatening.
The Forest Service has not commented, but Gila National Forest workers told the Silver City Daily Press that at least 13 employees of the trails and recreation crew lost their jobs.
Red spruce tree.
Aaron Weiss, deputy director with the Center for Western Priorities, said those employees terminated are people we've come to depend on.
"They're the ones leading the tours, they're the one answering questions in the visitor center, they're the ones cleaning trails," said Weiss. "So in some cases here, you're talking literally about the folks who make sure you have a safe, sanitary, clean family vacation."
A former employee told the Daily Press that the firings affected the forest's "13/13" crew - permanent seasonal employees who work six months a year.
The firings are part of a massive federal workforce reduction by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, head of the newly-formed advisory group - the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The Gila National Forest and Gila Wilderness encompass some 600,000 acres and draw thousands of tourists each year. They've also been the site of recent fires, which Weiss said worried him.
"February is prime season for hiring wildland firefighters for the upcoming fire season, and for doing controlled burns and wildfire prevention work," said Weiss. "If you're not doing those controlled burns now, you are leaving more fuel on the ground that will burn this summer."
New Mexico's Democratic congressional delegation released information showing the state has about 2,200 federal employees in probationary periods in the Forest Service, Veterans Health Administration, Bureau of Land Management, and the FBI.
