WOLFE COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, have reached the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Recently, approximately 2,000 employees were laid off from the U.S. Forest Service, with even more job cuts occurring at the National Park Service.
On a particularly sunny day at the Red River Gorge, first time visitors Roger and Sue Aaron told LEX 18 they were impressed with the park, including its trail maintenance and facilities.
However, these cuts to the U.S. Forest Service threaten the maintenance and conservation efforts that make visiting the Gorge a pleasant experience.
"It’s sad because we do need them. There has to be some cuts, but they need to be careful with what they're cutting,” said Sue.
In a place that sees over a million visitors each year, local tourism and park staffers worry what federal cuts could mean for the visitor experience.
"When there's no conservation work, there's no trail maintenance, there’s no safety in place anymore, if someone has an accident there’s no one monitoring that, no one monitoring the bathrooms…I think we're gonna start to see problems within the next couple of weeks,” said Pete Fingerson, executive director with Powell County Tourism.
Fingerson, who personally knows some of the terminated Kentucky employees, emphasized the significance of these roles, which included biologists, volunteer coordinators, and trail maintenance workers.
He told LEX 18, "All of the positions that have already been laid off are extremely important positions in and of themselves."
On a personal level, Fingerson described the emotional toll of the cuts on local families.
"It’s heartbreaking, it’s absolutely heartbreaking," he said.
A spokesperson for the USDA issued a statement on U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins regarding the layoffs.
“Secretary Rollins fully supports the President’s directive to improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people. 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.
As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters.
Released employees were probationary in status, many of whom were compensated by temporary IRA funding. It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to pay them long term. Secretary Rollins is committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted.”
