Annnddd the news goes from bad to much much worse in regards to OUR public lands

Save Our Public Lands & HARD-WORKING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES from Russell Vought

Regardless of what happens with our government’s budget showdown next week, Wes Siler, long-time outdoor writer and contender for Montana’s State Senate (District 31), reports some terrible news for guide services and outdoor adventurers around the country and in the Southwest. Whether the Democrats vote with the Republicans to approve the budget, or not, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought plans on firing tens of thousands of federal employees working for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest Service (NFS) and National Park Service (NPS). 

To put this in perspective for me, Steve and our clients, Four Corners Guides has permits in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, along with a dozen BLM and NFS agencies in Utah and Colorado. As I reported in a February post that went viral and led to my first death threat, our permits have already been under threat resulting from the 24% NPS reductions and overall 11% reduction in the workforce. Fewer to no workers in these offices translates to difficult-to-access permits. No permits means no guide service. This is not only a disaster for us; it also adversely affects local companies like Dolores-based Colorado Wilderness Outfitters (hunting & fishing), Durango-based Kingfisher Fly Guides (fishing), Lizard Head Cycling (mountain biking), and dozens more companies that utilize OUR public lands.

And It Gets Worse…

The Department of the Interior is planning mass reductions in force (RIFs) in the very near future, like as soon as October 1st. They plan to layoff a total of one-third of staff that was on board when DJT took office.

It was supposed to happen in the months to come, but now it could happen next week.  Vought has ordered that plans must be drawn up: “to fire employees who may be furloughed as part of a government shutdown that could begin as soon as October 1.” (Draft_Omb_Shutdown_Memo)

Remember that friendly NPS ranger who helped your kiddo join the Junior Ranger Program. Fired. My friend Jane Do (fake name), who works in fire here in SW Colorado, protecting my family, my neighbors, my community from wild fires. Fired. The folks who built the beaver dams in Mesa Verde National Park’s only riparian area, which happens to be next door to Scullbinder Ranch. Fired. 

These people have families for Pete’s sake. They need to pay for their children, their mortgages, things they buy in the community in which they live… from the local grocery store, gas station, the veterinarian. They use the local bank, etc, etc, etc. They have decent jobs in one of Colorado’s poorest counties. And they protect OUR public lands, work hard with the community to help small businesses thrive, support each other so that Mancos and surrounding communities can survive. And Russell Vought wants to fire them?  He wants to take their livelihoods away? He wants to take my livelihood away? What the heck?

And why? Because these, “programs are not consistent with President Donald Trump’s priorities.” And what exactly are his priorities? Taking jobs away from hardworking Americans? I doubt it.

Past government shutdowns have been horrible for the public and the park lands, alike. Says Siler: “…especially the one that spanned 35 days between 2018 and 2019 in which National Parks were kept open even while 80 percent of employees were furloughed.” This resulted in, “billions of dollars of damage to America’s natural treasures, and the deaths of multiple visitors.” And I am not saying I support or don’t support the shut down of the government. I am saying definitively that firing more federal employees who safeguard our public lands is NOT the answer. And firing them next week is a terrible terrible idea.

BUT ALL TRAILS AND PARKS ARE TO STAY OPEN WITH 23,000 FEWER EMPLOYEES?  HOW DOES THAT WORK EXACTLY?

At the same time, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has ordered, “that all trails, features and attractions in national parks must remain open, regardless of staffing, to already threaten visitor safety.” Ummm… so how does that work, Secretary Burgum? Looks like that means more accidents with no one to help those people. It looks like no one to clean the toilets. It looks like no one to maintain trails. It looks like no one to monitor the fires, or fight the fires. It looks like no one left to review and award permits to the hard-working people who run small, local guide services! Argh. 

It could also look like public lands anarchy… people doing whatever they want, whenever they want. Remember the two foolish Scout leaders who knocked down the hoodoos in Utah’s Goblin Valley State Park? Or how about the idiotic Casey Nocket who documented her vandalism in National Parks? 

“In its FY2026 budget, the White House proposed slashing the NPS budget by 38%. And while Congress has so far ignored that request, final funding levels for DOI and NPS have not yet been set. Should a shutdown occur, it may allow the administration to move forward with that budget reduction, terminating employees and reducing or cancelling programs all in one go. But, even if the shutdown is averted, it looks as if thousands of DOI employees are about to lose their jobs.”

Is this what you want? It’s definitely not what Steve and I want.