US Forest Service employees return to work after mass terminations
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Okanogan-Wenatchee U.S. Forest Service employees returned to work on March 24 after being laid off on Valentine’s Day.
Employees who were laid off include members in Local 34 of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), a union that represents workers across the Okanagan, Wenatchee, Colville, Olympic, Mount Baker and Snoqualmie forests.
Katijo Maher, president of Local 34, said probationary employees—many of them longtime seasonal workers—were wrongfully terminated despite receiving high-performance evaluations.
“Probationary does not mean that you are on a warning or that any part of your performance has been unsatisfactory,” Maher said. “We had probationary employees that were actually going to receive awards from the chief as outstanding engineers.”
The terminations came as part of a broad workforce reduction plan under the Trump administration, which resulted in thousands of government employees losing their jobs across various agencies. The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) ruled that these employees must be reinstated for at least 45 days while the Office of Special Counsel investigates the agency.
Although many employees have returned to work, the process has been complicated. Some have struggled to regain access to their employment records, human resources systems, and even basic tools needed for their jobs.
“The word on the street is that once they were terminated, everything was deleted. That can interfere with them applying for other jobs, unemployment benefits, and any kind of grants or loans,” Maher said.
Many of those let go were in the lowest-paying positions, earning around $22 an hour, and played critical roles in maintaining public lands, according to Maher. They staffed visitor centers, issued permits, cleared trails, and maintained pit toilets in popular areas like the Enchantments.
With the order sending park rangers back to work, employees who were terminated in mid-February received lump-sum back pay, with amounts varying from $6,000 to $10,000, according to Rachel Granberg, a union steward with NFFE.
“People were terminated for a little over a month,” Granberg said. “Slowly, everyone got put into paid administrative leave and received back pay for all the time going back to the date they were first terminated.”
According to Maher and Grandberg, the broader public has expressed strong support for the Forest Service employees.
“It’s been so inspiring to see the public come out and support not only our agency but all the other agencies,” Maher said. “They’re making their displeasure known. The fact is, they’re not satisfied with the way the government is being run right now.”
In Wenatchee on Feb. 17, more than 200 people gathered at Memorial Park in Wenatchee to protest the terminations and support federal workers.
Despite their return, many employees remain concerned about future job security. Union representatives, including Maher, are preparing for continued legal battles.
“It’s not over yet. There’s going to be more challenges,” she said. “Like I tell my members—you know, buckle up, put the bite stick in—because it’s still going to get bumpy. But don’t lose hope. Keep that energy up.”
Reneé Diaz may be contacted at Renee.diaz@wenatcheeworld.com. Collaborative reporting by The Wenatchee World, NWPB and Murrow College of Communication Newsroom Fellowship.
