Hiring lag for wildland firefighters confirmed

The Taos News confirmed with a source inside the Carson, who agreed to speak only the condition of anonymity, that the federal hiring freeze Trump initiated upon taking office in January affected the Forest Service's annual hiring of seasonal wildland firefighters. The source said they don't expect the usual crews to be staffed up until June, well into the Southwest's peak wildfire season.

"And red-carded folks were let go," the source said, referring to forest personnel who were also certified to perform wildland firefighting duties. "We're not going to get firefighters as soon as we need them. We lost our ready-reserve."

Another anonymous source who was recently terminated from the Carson confirmed seasonal facility maintenance workers were among the 24 personnel to have been fired from the forest so far. Approximately 130 people worked for the forest before firings commenced last month, a number that already represented a 40 percent vacancy rate.

The sparsely attended event Monday was arranged by Jessica Resto, who performed janitorial work at the Tres Piedras Ranger District office until recently. The gathering drew several longtime residents of the remote community nestled between the Carson National Forest and U.S. Bureau of Land Management land.

A convoy of identical, unmarked black Dodge Ram pickup trucks with dark tinted windows pulled out of the ranger district parking area as two or three protesters unpacked their signs in the wind. The ranger district office was closed due to frozen pipes.

"This is a terrible place to start with cutting back money," Ann Marie Gehrke said. "Let's start with the billionaires, the corporations."

Asked what she thinks will change within the Carson National Forest as a result of reductions in force, and what folks inside the Forest Service with whom the Taos News refer to as a "reprioritization" of the forest's mission, Gehrke said, "I see drilling. I see them cutting trees."

"I believe our tax dollars and public services are being stolen from us to move our money to the 1 percent," said Helen Caldwell. "They're taking our forest firefighters and [expletive] with our National Parks, our public services. I believe this is a coup of our government. Congress is failing to do their job. I'm pissed."

Gehrke said, "I think when they see this land, they see money."

According to a March 3 Source New Mexico article, the leader of Cibola National Forest told Forest Service employees at a staff meeting the country's public land management policy may be reprioritized toward resource extraction, including uranium in the Cibola. Experts also speculate other minerals and resources could be mined in Santa Fe National Forest. Except for the Jicarilla Ranger District east of Farmington, which contains rich natural gas deposits, there aren't many valuable underground resource extraction opportunities on the Carson or on BLM land within North Central New Mexico.

Tom Schultz, who was appointed Forest Service chief days after Trump took office, was vice president of resources and government affairs at Idaho Forest Group, a family-owned company headquartered in Coeur d’Alene that is now one of America’s largest lumber producers, according to a Jan. 28 press release from Idaho Gov. Brad Little's office.

Schultz, the agency's 21st chief, oversees the country's 154 national forests — including the Carson, Santa Fe, Cibola, Gila, and Lincoln national forests in New Mexico — and 20 national grasslands, all of which encompasses 193 million acres.

He is the first chief of the agency in memory whose official photo was not taken in the Forest Service's green uniform, belying the fact that he was not promoted from within the agency, as is traditionally the case. In a March 4 introductory letter, Schultz wrote about studying forestry, watershed management and environmental politics in Montana and Wyoming.

"Working for state agencies in Montana and Idaho has given me a perspective on the role of the states in managing public trust lands and how that differs from goals and objectives in managing federal lands," he added. "My tenure at Idaho Forest Group gave me a deep understanding of markets and the role that raw material availability, quality and price play in being able to support a profitable forest products industry. The logging contractors and truck drivers are critical infrastructure and without them our ability to manage the forest and suppress wildfires can be impaired to a point that management is not feasible. All this gives me a balanced perspective as Chief.

"I believe humans have two ears and one mouth for a reason, meaning we’re supposed to listen more than we talk and that we should learn from one another," Schultz wrote in the March 4 letter. "I will come into a meeting with a direction but not all the answers. I want healthy, respectful dissent, but once a decision is made, I believe we must follow through together and hold ourselves accountable."