How Cutting Public Lands Workforce Will Impact Mountain Bike Recreation

Yahoo

19-02-2025

The new presidential administration has led the Forest Service and other agencies to reduce their workforce by about 10%, primarily targeting employees with less than a year of service. Reports show that this could affect approximately 200,000 federal employees and counting.
These layoffs impede agencies' capacity to protect public lands and preserve beloved outdoor spaces. They will also reduce the staff responsible for public lands' day-to-day operations, including hundreds of miles of mountain bike trails, hiking trails, and national park operations.
In the past decade, staffing at land management agencies like the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has declined despite rising visitation. Since 2010, NPS staffing has been down 20%, while visitation rose 16%. Last autumn, the Forest Service faced ongoing budget deficits and implemented a hiring freeze for seasonal workers, hindering its ability to maintain trails, campgrounds, and recreation areas nationwide.
With fewer employees within the USFS, over 90,000 mountain bike trials will be left without adequate staffing for maintenance and upkeep as we quickly approach the summer and visitor rates increase. This means that critical facilities that improve quality of life will not be maintained for thousands of visitors to trail systems. This impact might seem small on paper, but the lack of staffing nationwide will quickly become noticeable during peak seasons and winter when most maintenance is performed on these trail systems. Trails will not receive the attention required to keep them running smoothly. Volunteers and local IMBA chapters will be responsible for facilitating the upkeep of the trails we enjoy.
Get involved with a local trail crew or support your local . Despite Congress enacting the EXPLORE Act in December to improve outdoor recreation on public lands, it underscored the importance of outdoor access for communities and public health. However, implementing the Act is just one small part of the mission; progress will falter without adequate staffing at land management agencies.Recent budget cuts at the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service widely affect less seasoned employees who are essential for outdoor recreation. They maintain trails, oversee campgrounds, assist visitors, issue permits, support search and rescue, respond to emergencies, monitor wildlife, and restore landscapes by removing invasive species and aiding reforestation. Eliminating these positions will significantly harm the quality and accessibility of outdoor recreation and increase the risk for everyone visiting parks and recreational areas.
Terminating early-career employees does not resolve inefficiencies; instead, it undermines the future workforce and prevents constructive growth and progress within these agencies. While it might appease a delusional system in the short term, the long-term ramifications will be noticeable in the coming years. Such reductions disproportionately impact on-site staff responsible for keeping public lands, trails, and visitor centers operational. Consequently, this will undoubtedly lead to a noticeable deterioration in the outdoor recreation experience for anyone who enjoys these national parks or even local trail systems.
These reductions will hinder emergency search and rescue operations, putting more responsibility on individuals to remain prepared and vigilant. One of the scariest impacts of these budget cuts is the negative impact on wildfire prevention and response, straining the already limited firefighting resources. Seasonal employees are crucial for improving wildfire preparedness by reducing fuel buildup and assisting with initial fire suppression efforts on the ground during a burn. Cutting back on wildfire prevention will raise the risk of uncontrolled fires in public lands and nearby communities, especially as we see real-time effects of climate change rapidly change the areas we know and love, and wildfire-affected regions continue to grow yearly.
We strongly encourage you to write to your lawmakers and ask them to oppose cuts to land management agencies, especially those that affect on-the-ground staff, which are crucial to outdoor recreation experiences.