Monday morning rally planned to protest firing of USFS and federal workers

Story by Patti BrownA rally to protest the Valentine’s Day firing of U.S. Forest Service and federal workers is set to take place at 10 a.m. Monday morning by the iconic Rocky Mountain National Park welcome sign near the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Estes Park.According to a press release issued on Feb. 14 by Gov. Jared Polis, “the Trump administration fired at least 90 people in Colorado and 3,400 Forest Service employees as part of much broader cuts to programs that protect health and safety with no replacement plans to deliver basic services.”While firefighters were spared from the cuts, other jobs that do important wildfire prevention work such as road maintenance, forest management, and watershed restoration were slashed, the governor’s office reported.The cuts which represent 10% of the USFS workforce are a result of Executive Order 14210: The Department of Government Efficiency ‘Workforce Optimization Initiative‘.“It’s reckless endangerment to Coloradans and could increase homeowners insurance costs further for the Trump Administration to take a hammer to those who help protect us against wildfires through watershed protection and forest management, tipping the scale toward more fire danger with potentially devastating consequences. It’s fine if they don’t like how the federal government works today, but risking our health and safety with no replacement is reckless,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.On Friday, five Colorado Democratic lawmakers — Senators Michael F. Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Representatives Brittany Pettersen, Jason Crow, and Joe Neguse —signed a letter to U. S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins to urge reinstatement of the federal employees.The lawmakers wrote, “The USFS is already critically understaffed, and further employee cuts will have real and immediate consequences for Colorado’s economy, rural communities, and wildfire resilience.”In a statement posted Friday on X, Bennet wrote “This misguided action will have devastating consequences, and our national forests will pay the price. The USFS was already a chronically understaffed agency, and this will hinder important forest management and wildfire prevention efforts. The Trump Administration must reverse course immediately.”Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com