To quote Pogo: "I have seen the enemy, and it is us"

Amidst all the rants from the Trump Administration about California's mismanagement of forest lands -- some truth in some criticisms, imho -- leading to the devastating L.A. and other wildfires, often overlooked is the fact that 46% of California's LAND MASS and a huge majority of its forest lands are owned by the Federal government. That includes the National Forest in which the Palisades fire that devastated L.A.. So now we see the Trump Administration's solution: cut the workforce that maintains the forests by 10%, but leave the firefighters intact to deal with the results of that mismanagement.

"The U.S. Forest Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that manages national forests and public lands, fired about 3,400 probational workers, according to a source familiar with the cuts.

"It represents nearly 10% of the Forest Service workforce of 35,000 employees. The source told USA TODAY the layoffs don't extend to firefighters, law enforcement officers, bridge inspectors or meteorologists.

"Forest Service workers anticipate that Schedule A employees, who include disabled people and veterans working two-year probational periods, will be targeted next, the source said"

--USA Today

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

So the people laid off were not doing anything? Why were they on payroll?

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@hippyjoe1955 As far as I can discern, the cuts were not made with any surgical scalpel other than those least protected under civil service. Not even made with a weedwhacker, imho. The first image that came to mind was with a chainsaw to see where the zombies rose, but the more I think about it, more like a double-bladed axe being wielded in a temper tantrum -- with an an occasional ax throw at political targets -- than any perceptible rational pattern.

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@dancingtongue A number of years ago Alberta did similar to what Trump is now doing. It was a real benefit to both the employees and the employers. Moral in the civil service went up. The employment rate went up. The government deficit went way down.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@hippyjoe1955 Aside from the goals of reducing government payroll and spending, was it done in similar broad stroke randomness as Trump/Musk or was it more targeted to actually weed out underperformers, inefficiencies, and unneeded?

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@dancingtongue It was pretty much a % cut. It was not a targeted cut.