1. United States
2. Nev.
3. Letter

Stop the reorganization of the Forest Service and further staffing cuts at the Department of the Interior! As a former Forest Service employee and current DOI employee, the recent announcements of restructuring/moving/reorganization of the Forest Service (USFS) is heartbreaking. The USFS has been chronically understaffed for decades and now will lose even more staff, institutional knowledge, and research capabilities based on the announcement yesterday. Our forests are an important commodity and source of recreation, food, and Forest products. That involves having an appropriate level of staffing and knowledge on the ground as well as support in Washington, DC. Please put a stop to these unnecessary changes. In addition, DOI announced further deferred resignation and early retirement programs throughout the Department. For the past year I have been doing the work of 3-4 employees with no additional pay because of the DRP and VERA programs of 2025, (and inability to hire replacements) and I know most offices at DOI and throughout the federal government are in the same situation. I’m sure burnout and cruelty are the point of this entire administration, and they want us to give up. But we federal employees are ALSO Americans, we are ALSO taxpayers, and we ALSO have institutional knowledge that keeps this nation running. We are dedicated to our jobs because we want our own country to succeed, yet we are being torn apart by the very government we are supporting with our work. It’s disgusting and disappointing that we are being treated this way, and it needs to stop.