The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will reinstate thousands of workers laid off in February starting this Wednesday. That includes many hundreds of Forest Service workers across the Mountain West.
After he was terminated, Payette National Forest botanist Sidney Noble got a job as a ski lift operator at the Brundage Mountain Resort outside of McCall, Idaho. During his shift Tuesday, he learned that the USDA – the Forest Service’s parent agency – intended to start paying terminated probationary workers like him this week and provide back pay.
“I'm very excited about that,” he said. “It's been quite the emotional rollercoaster this past almost four weeks now.”
The USDA said it will “work quickly to develop a phased plan for return-to-duty, and while those plans materialize, all probationary employees will be paid,” according to a Tuesday statement.
That comes after an independent federal board determined that nearly 6,000 USDA workers were likely fired illegally, and must be reinstated.
“I find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the (USDA) engaged in a prohibited personnel practice,” Merit System Protection Board member Cathy Harris wrote in her March 5 order.
The order states that the stay on the terminations of probationary workers will last until April 18, but notes that requests for extensions of the stay can be submitted through April 3.
In response to questions about the reinstatements, including whether they are permanent or just for the 45-day stay, the USDA re-sent a response it had previously provided in the wake of the layoffs.
“Secretary (Brooke) Rollins fully supports the President’s directive to improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people,” it reads. “We have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar spent goes to serve the people, not the bureaucracy.”
“Secretary Rollins is committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted,” it concludes.
Noble, the laid off Forest Service botanist, said he got the lift gig to be able to pay rent for the time being in the pricey resort town. He spoke to the Mountain West News Bureau as he rode the lift to the top of Brundage before skiing down the 45th Parallel run on his ride break.
“Best snow in Idaho,” he said.
He spent a decade working toward a biology PhD that would enable him to work for the agency.
“I want to serve the American people, and work for our national forest system,” he said. “There's no place I would rather work.”
'Not going to be easy'
Bryce Spare, a Forest Service backcountry ranger on the Payette, was also excited about the reinstatements.
“It's a job that I really enjoy and really like doing, and also think is important,” he said.
But the rollercoaster experience of the last several weeks has left him concerned about the future of his and his colleagues’ jobs, as well as the forest he works on. He also said that he’d like to see the agencies behind the mass firings – like DOGE – held accountable.
But as a trans person, Spare said many actions by the Trump administration have impacted him.
“In my world and reality, that's been the bigger impact on my life and my community right now,” he said, before asking: “Are we going to be able to get health care or can we travel safely? Can we get appropriate ID?”
“I know that it's not going to be easy continuing to do this job,” he said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
