21-02-2025
Outdoor Recreation Threatened by Federal Budget Cuts
The Outdoor Alliance has issued a press release regarding recent layoffs across land management organizations due to changes in government funding. In the last week, the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service have laid off more than 5,000 employees. Public lands have already taken a hit in the last ten years. According to the release, the National Park service specifically has seen a 20% reduction in full-time staff since 2010 despite a 16% increase in visitation. The US Forest Service has had difficulty maintaining trails, campgrounds, and recreation sites due to ongoing budget shortfalls and hiring freezes for seasonal to keep up with the best stories and photos in skiing? Subscribe to the new Powder To The People newsletter for weekly most recent cuts made by the current administration will have a massive effect on the Nation's public lands and outdoor recreation. Possible effects include closures of popular national parks, trails, forests, and recreation infrastructure associated with public lands like campgrounds, public toilets, and boat ramps. Additionally, these budget cuts have potential to affect wildfire prevention and emergency responses efforts, given many of the employees associated with these programs are seasonal workers. 'We are deeply sorry to hear about the staffing cuts rolling in across federal land management agencies. Land managers do incredibly important work, often for long hours at modest pay. They are at the front line for stewarding the resources we all care so much about, and the loss of these workers will have real, tangible impacts on our public lands and waters, outdoor recreation, and community safety as we start to move into fire season," said Vice President for Policy and Government Relations Louis Geltman.
In 2020, Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen reported that 122 of the US' ski areas operate on National Forest land. These 122 resorts alone makeup more than 60% of the total capacity for downhill resort skiing in the country. After hiking, alpine skiing and snowboarding is the second most popular use of national forest land with 57 million skier visits annually. Ski areas on national forest land also account for 41,200 full time jobs and visitors of these resorts contribute $2.9 billion to local economies. In short, the US Forest Service is an essential factor to skiing in much of the US. As summer months get hotter, wildfires have posed greater and greater threats to public lands as well as several ski areas that operate on them. In 2024, several California ski resorts sustained damage from wildfires such as the Bridge fire, which damaged structures at Mountain High Ski Resort and Mt. Baldy. Ash fell from an orange sky in early September of 2024 as a fire dubbed the Bachelor Complex raged on the backside of Mt. Bachelor, in Bend, Oregon. The mountain remained closed for several days through its summer season due to unhealthy air quality and fire danger. The Lava and Boulder fires forced Idaho ski area Tamarack to close and evacuate as they burned more than 78,000 acres into Wyoming and Montana. Budget cuts and hiring freezes mean that many of the 17,000 seasonal fire workers employed by the federal agencies are now in limbo as job offers, transfers, or promotions have been rescinded or put on hold just ahead of the 2025 season. Many of the 3,400 Forest Services staff members fired this week held positions that provided critical support and to wildfire management teams. "Without adequate staffing and resources, our experiences outside, the health of public lands, and the outdoor recreation economy will suffer," states the press release. Outdoor Alliance has created a quick action form that helps folks to send personalized letters to their Congress members and urges them to take action to protect the workforce that keeps public lands safe and accessible.
