A hard blow: Forest Service hiring freeze sparks concern in northwest Colorado

Communities around Colorado fear a statewide hiring freeze for seasonal Forest Service workers next year will halt work on the trail and limit services for thousands of hikers, campers and other visitors.

“I think it's going to be a hard blow for the locals,” Routt County Commissioner Sonja Macys said of the potential impact in northwest Colorado. “There is a constant need to remove (beetle-killed) trees. “We have erosion problems and are seeing an incredible increase in the use of our public lands throughout Routt County.”

Forest Service Chief Randy Moore announced in September that the agency would not be “hiring any seasonal workers” other than firefighters next year.

“We simply cannot do the same amount of work with fewer people,” Moore warned as he discussed next year’s budget. “We will not try to achieve everything that is expected of us with fewer people.”

Macy's said it would be a “perfect storm” if northwest Colorado didn't have enough seasonal Forest Service workers to maintain recreation areas as more visitors sought them out.

“We are not happy with the situation,” she added.

She also questioned how the Forest Service has taken advantage of the new revenue streams it has generated from visitors to Routt County.

The Forest Service has increased and increased user fees at several campgrounds and recreation areas in Routt County in recent years.

That included a new $5 fee for parking and access to the popular Mad Creek trail north of Steamboat.

When Macy's and other Routt County leaders publicly supported these fees, they said they expected they would pay for more trail work and maintenance at those locations.

“Now we hear that they can’t hire these seasonal workers and these fees are high. “I’m not sure if they will be rerouted, if they will be deducted for future maintenance or what will happen to them,” Macy’s said.

Meanwhile, volunteer organizations that have helped the Forest Service maintain hundreds of miles of trails for decades are also concerned about the hiring freeze.

Last summer, ten volunteers from Friends of the Wilderness helped the Forest Service build an elevated boardwalk on the wilderness access section of the Gilpin Lake Trail, one of the main trails of the popular Zirkel Circle hike.

“This type of project is only possible in collaboration with a Forest Service staff member,” Laura Foulk, president of Friends of the Wilderness, said in an email to KUNC. “Next season, the lack of Seasonal Forest Service employees will limit or eliminate special projects. The daily effort to keep the paths free of fallen trees and water hazards is made much more difficult.”

She said when that happens and obstacles such as trees are left on the trails, visitors will either be unable to access or will bypass those obstacles, causing erosion and damage to the trails and surrounding area.

“We know from experience that if an area is not maintained due to staff shortages, the number of fallen trees due to the pine beetle epidemic and wildfires over the last decade can reach a point where two to three times as many people are needed. “It takes fewer hours to clear the accumulated stumps than it does to properly care for it,” she said.

The state's congressional leaders are also questioning the Forest Service's decision to forgo hiring thousands of seasonal workers.

A letter sent last month said: They said the plan was “unacceptable” and would leave communities “without vital services”.

The Center for Western Priorities estimates that 2,400 jobs nationwide will be affected by the hiring freeze.

A spokesman for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest could not immediately say how many local sites will be affected.

The spokesman referred KUNC's questions about the hiring freeze to a national office on Monday and said Wednesday he was still waiting for a response.