Reducing staff in public lands agencies will negatively impact individuals, communities, landscapes, trail running and trail races.
On Friday, February 14th, over 5,000 federal workers were laid off from federal public land agencies, reducing the workforce by 10%. These jobs include essential workers who maintain trails, campgrounds, and the infrastructure needed to ensure public lands and trails are accessible and safe for runners and other visitors alike. This action is the most recent reduction in staffing levels at agencies including the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and other land management agencies that have already been operating with inadequate personnel and budgets despite consistently increasing visitation rates.
“Overnight local employees lost their jobs and housing.” said Tim Tollefson, RD of mammoth trailfest. and resident of Mammoth Lakes, CA. “Our businesses, our community, our health and homes, everything is at stake. Without adequate staffing and resources for parks and public lands our entire tourist-based economy is at risk. But it isn’t just the locals, proper management of the Inyo provides clean water to over 3.8 million people – looking at you Los Angeles – fire protection, and recreation opportunities for 4 million people each year. These cuts are reckless and will have devastating effects nationwide.”
The strategy used to make these layoff decisions—targeting newer workers and people with in-the-field duties—is especially bad for the future of public lands, and follows years of staffing reductions at the USFS, NPS, and BLM despite consistently increasing visitation rates. Staffing shortages in these agencies will significantly impact communities and landscapes, as well as trail running and trail races on federally managed public lands across the country. Impacts that were already felt by many race directors may worsen including reduced communication with permit administrators, delays in permit processing, unmaintained facilities such as trailheads and parking lots, and closed or hazardous conditions on trails or access roads.
Here’s what you can do:
- As a race director: Runners for Public Lands is preparing an opportunity for race directors to advocate as a collective voice, calling on lawmakers to reverse these staffing reductions and halt additional reductions. If you are part of our Race Director Collective you will receive an email(s) offering an opportunity to join us in this advocacy effort. If you are not yet part of this group please contact us at info@runnersforpubliclands.org to be included.
- As an individual runner: Join us in signing the Outdoor Alliance’s Action alert that has already sent over 70,000 letters to Congress and read the Outdoor Alliance’s latest blog post.
Below find some additional links to other resources and background data related to this issue.
- Since 2010, there has been a 16% increase in visitation to National Parks despite a 20% reduction in full-time staff. (Source: WSJ).
- Between 2010 and 2020, the US Forest Service also experienced a 17% increase in recreational visits despite a 29% reduction in full time staff for recreational programs. You can see past blog posts including the sources of this data from RPL and the Outdoor Alliance.
- Read RPL’s post in December 2024 about the ongoing budget crisis affecting the USFS and what this all means for our favorite public lands.
