Forest Employees Get The Axe as Trump Layoffs Hit Cloudcroft’s Backyard
Fear, uncertainty and censorship at districts across the Lincoln National Forest after DOGE terminations blindside local Forest Service employees
At least 11 Sacramento Ranger District Forest Service employees were laid off by the Trump administration’s sudden termination of several thousand workers from the US Forest Service, a move overseen by Elon Musk and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to current and former employees.
The Sacramento Ranger District covers the public lands directly surrounding Cloudcroft, Mayhill, High Rolls, Timberon, Weed, Piñon, Duncan, and other nearby mountain communities.
Terminations occurred across multiple departments within the Lincoln National Forest’s (LNF) Sacramento, Guadalupe, and Smokey Bear Ranger Districts. The combined districts cover 1.1 million acres of southeastern New Mexico.
DOGE was established with an executive order signed by President Trump during his first day in office. The department was created to “maximize government efficiency and productivity” according to the order. Similar mass layoffs have hit a swath of federal agencies including The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Park Service, the US Department of Agriculture (which oversees the Forest Service), amongst others.
Full time firefighters with the Forest Service have been spared from the recent round of layoffs according to one employee with first-hand knowledge of the cuts.
“None of the permanent fire or fuels personnel have been let go, but there is a hiring freeze with temporary employees. None of their documents and actions have gone through. They’ve talked to the caseworkers from HR, and they just keep on telling them that they’re at a standstill right now and waiting for further guidance,” said an LNF employee on Friday morning.
The official “start day” for fire season is March 23rd, one month away, the Reader confirmed.
Sources quoted in this article are current or recently fired employees who work in the Lincoln National Forest. Sources from the Forest Service and federal employees have been kept anonymous to protect their identities due to concerns about professional repercussions for talking with the media.
“At least 11” confirmed layoffs for the Sacramento Ranger District
According to multiple sources, approximately 11 to 13 field technicians have been laid off across wildlife, range, timber, and recreation departments.
One source confirmed the following terminations: "On the Sacramento District, that would be 4 in wildlife, 3 in range, 1 in timber, and 3 in recreation.”
“The 11 terminated count would be for the Sac office—plus a couple more resignations, which constitutes about half the non-fire staff at my count. Terminated and resigned forest-wide would be more like 20 so far,” says one employee.
“Including myself, it’s about 13 [people] across the three districts,” one recently laid-off employee told The Reader.
When asked what percentage of the workforce that was let go, they replied, “for Sacramento, I’d say it’s like 30-40% just because some departments like wildlife just dissipated whereas timber wasn’t hit as bad.”
Sources say that at least one front desk employee was fired from the Sacramento Ranger District as well.
Several former staff members said that as recently as Monday, February 17th, they were reassured at staff meetings that “Everything was going to be okay.”
One person says the message changed quickly. “It was we don't really know what's going on, but we don't think that anybody's getting fired right now. And then by the end of that week, I was fired through an e-mail. And they actually said that it was based on my performance, which is, excuse my language, bullshit because I've never had a bad performance review.”
Another ex-employee confirmed they, too, were officially terminated through an email, based on “poor performance.”
They disagreed with that line of reasoning, saying, “My performance had been nothing but great according to all my previous performance reports.”
Reports show the majority of layoffs targeted “probationary employees,” or individuals who have been in their positions or changed positions within the last two years. Poor performance was the official explanation for thousands who lost their jobs.
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Communication breakdown, silence, and fear
Employees who remain on staff have expressed reluctance to discuss the situation openly due to concerns about retribution. "I don’t want to draw attention to myself," one current employee admitted. "Even though I know people want to talk about it, it doesn’t feel safe to do so."
Many who were willing to comment provided information anonymously, and others directed inquiries to higher-ranking officials. The common response to The Reader’s queries has been, “I can't comment but can connect you to a higher-up."
The Reader contacted the Lincoln National Forest leadership through phone calls and emails. In a phone call, Region 3 Supervisor Jason Freeman said our email was forwarded to media personnel. He declined to say who specifically.
One current employee told The Reader about an email they received telling employees “don’t post anything on social media. Don’t talk to anybody.”
Communication regarding these layoffs has been limited, with many employees learning of the changes through direct outreach to colleagues rather than official announcements. "I haven’t heard anything through official channels," one current technician explained. "I only found out by personally reaching out to my coworkers."
Among those fired, some sources live on the mountain or were born and raised in the area. They expressed frustration over the amount of education and degrees they sought to secure their dream job in the forest they call home.
“I fought to get my foot in the door, and then the rug was yanked out from under me,” one recently laid-off employee said.
Employees still with the Forest Service expressed uncertainty about their job security going forward and about the long-term implications for forest operations.
What does this mean for Lincoln National Forest?
The impact of these layoffs may not be immediately visible in all areas, but operational challenges are anticipated.
“Some of the cut employees provide resources to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), so this could strongly affect the timing of projects, like timber harvest, any new recreation, road building, utilities, prescribed burns, and more. Any project. NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, the Antiquities Act. These are congressional, codified laws that you have to comply with before any project is underway. It’s all part of the planning of the project,” says one former LNF technician.
The layoffs have left some departments severely understaffed. "The wildlife department now has only one person left," a source familiar with the situation reported. "The trails crew is down to one supervisor, and range is left with only a few staff members to oversee thousands of acres of grazing land."
“The Lincoln National Forest manages 128 non-motorized and 57 motorized trails covering nearly 550 miles and 927 miles of motorized routes on roads open for use by high clearance vehicles (maintenance level 2). Other infrastructure that provides recreational access includes trailheads, parking lots, vistas, and other developed recreation facilities,” details the latest Lincoln National Forest Assessment Report.
Recreational sites, which rely on consistent maintenance of facilities like bathrooms and campgrounds, are expected to show the effects first.
With fewer personnel available, trail maintenance, litter cleanup, and general site upkeep may be significantly reduced. Areas such as Bluff Springs or Sitting Bull Falls, which often see high visitor numbers and require frequent maintenance, are particularly vulnerable to accumulating trash and overuse-related damage.
"Bluff Springs getting trashed out, that's happened before," a current employee noted. "So, at this point, they're gonna have firefighters in the engines probably like spraying out the bathrooms if they want to keep them open at rec sites. They might end up just needing to close them."
From the Lincoln National Forest facebook page, a September 2020 post:
“Over Labor Day weekend, we estimated 30,000 visitors came to the forest and near-by towns.”
“To put this number in perspective, our entire forest recreation staff is 14 people, and we have 2 law enforcement officers to cover 1.1 million acres. Our crews work hard to protect your public land, but we can’t keep up any longer given the sheer amount of trash, abandoned campfires and vandalism we are seeing.”
As of 2023, the Lincoln National Forest (LNF) only has one law enforcement officer.
What does this mean for Cloudcroft?
According to the latest Lincoln National Forest Assessment Report, as of 2015, the Sacramento Ranger District, which hugs Cloudcroft village, consists of 548,865 acres.
The report details the economic boon that tourism drives through visits to the LNF public lands:
“Data collected in 2014 on the Lincoln National Forest revealed an estimated 767,000 visits were made to the Lincoln, mostly for recreational purposes. Of those visits, less than 35 percent of visits were from individuals that live within 50 miles (local visitors), while approximately 40 percent of the individuals reported living more than 200 miles away (nonlocal visitors). The average total trip spending per party was $438.”
”(In 2017) market transactions attributable to activities on the Lincoln National Forest support an estimated 991 jobs and $31.5 million in labor income in the regional economy.
Tourism is a significant economic driver for the region, with visitors supporting local businesses, lodges, and outdoor recreation services. "Tourism keeps our town alive," a source explained. "If trail conditions deteriorate, people may stop coming, and that will hit the local economy hard."
The Reader reached out to Cloudcroft Mayor Tim King. When asked if he thought the forest service layoffs would impact the village, he said:
“I haven’t even talked to the Forest Service yet. I’ve been calling to the station down in Alamogordo and haven’t heard anything back.”
“I worked for the forest service as a contractor in Salt Lake City. I had worked for the BLM as a contractor, too. It was set up way differently; you had a forest service lead and then contractors. To me, that worked out really well.”
Could these cuts affect tourism?
“I think it would. That’s our lifeblood, tourism. Over time if it’s not remedied, it would.”
The Reader spoke with Matt Willett, who serves as chair of Cloudcroft’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and owns the popular outdoors outfitter High Altitude on Burro Avenue. When asked if he foresaw the forest service layoffs impacting recreation, he said:
“It’s unfortunate for those who weren’t doing a bad job. I think the recreation portion of this forest is super underfunded anway. So then to go back in and cut some of their jobs is hard on the forest.”
“The main guy that we deal with still has his job. I think they lost a couple of seasonal people. I don’t see that it’s going to affect us greatly. I think overall it’s a good thing, but unfortunately, some good people will lose their jobs in the scope of this DOGE thing.”
“Overall, it sucks for the local people. The goal of cutting back on our government spending, I agree with, but it is bad to lose some of the good people, too.”
Future impacts
Longer-term effects on forest management could include reduced monitoring of vegetation, wildlife, and grazing impacts. One source warned that conservation and compliance efforts, which require data collection and habitat assessments, may also be affected by the limited workforce.
It remains unclear if and how these cuts will affect efforts to protect endangered species within LNF, like the Sacramento Mountain Thistle, Mexican Spotted Owl, or the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse.
As the community grapples with these changes, those familiar with the situation encourage residents to seek out accurate information and, if concerned, to reach out to representatives at the state and federal levels. "Local leadership has no control over these decisions—it’s coming from higher up," one worker explained. "If people are upset, they need to be reaching out to senators and decision-makers at the federal level."
Catch up with these selections of the Reader’s coverage of Lincoln National Forest:
Something’s Burning: Protecting Cloudcroft Where Wildland and Village Meet
Fire Forum Recap: Cloudcroft Residents Get Crash Course in Wildfire Preparedness
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Guess we can really thank all those who voted the dictator into office.
Thank you for such thoughtful reporting. Rash and random actions have consequences. The new administration is doing exactly what it said it would do. I feel terribly bad for the people fired; we need their important services-they are understaffed as it ! I hope cooler, more thoughtful heads will prevail.