Forest Service workers in Montana without job roles related to law enforcement, wildfires or timber production are now on furlough while the federal government remains shut down due to a funding impasse in Congress.
That’s according to Sam Forstag, a leader with the labor union representing Forest Service workers at three national forests in Montana.
And it comes on top of mass firings, hiring freezes and pressure to retire early that had already reduced the agency’s workforce by about 30% since President Donald Trump took office in January. The administration has defended those prior moves as cost-cutting measures to reduce the size and scope of the federal government.
A contingency plan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture dated Sept. 30 stated that 12,744 workers, or about 40% of current staff nationwide, are expected to be furloughed. Many of them, Forstag said Thursday, are lower-level workers who are at the bottom of the federal pay scale.
“Most of the people being affected here are public employees making very little money, who don’t have the type of savings to just sit back and not know when the next time you’re getting paid is,” Forstag said. “That’s real implications for people’s lives.”
The agency has declined multiple requests by the Missoulian since April to verify the number of Forest Service employees remaining in Montana. Questions submitted Thursday morning to the Forest Service headquarters in Washington were unanswered as of press time. A regional Forest Service spokesperson on Thursday referred press inquiries to the national office.
Workers deemed “essential,” like wildland firefighters, must still report for work, but won’t get a paycheck until Congress approves funding for the new fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
But who was or wasn’t required to show up for work was still being hashed out Wednesday at the ranger district level, according to Forstag.
“It’s pretty astounding, I can only assume that means the guidance was not clear from the top,” he said, adding, “I don’t blame the management on those districts. I blame the administration. The shutdown was no surprise for anybody.”
The USDA plan noted that about half of Forest Service employees hold jobs “necessary to protect life and property,” and will still have to show up for work.
The decision to keep on workers with “timber” roles stems from Trump’s executive order in March to expand timber production, according to the plan. The order called the industry “critical to our nation’s well-being.” Forstag said local managers have been trying to interpret that category broadly.
“They’re trying to lump as many folks as they can into ‘timber’ to keep them working,” Forstag said.
Meanwhile, the Forest Service was among a handful of federal agencies whose websites began publishing partisan political messages this week, an unprecedented and potentially illegal move by the Trump administration.
A message at the top of Forest Service websites blamed Democrats for the federal government shutdown. Both parties in Congress have blamed each other for the impasse, with minority Democrats insisting on restoring health care funding before giving Republicans the votes they need to pass their spending bill.
“The Radical Left Democrats shut down the government,” the banner posting reads. “This government website will be updated periodically during the funding lapse for mission critical functions. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
Marna Daley, who worked as a public affairs officer for the Custer Gallatin National Forest before retiring this year, criticized the messaging.
“After spending almost 30 years with the agency, I know how important it is that federal websites remain factual and nonpartisan, especially during critical times such as a government shutdown,” she wrote in an email. “Allowing political propaganda to appear on these platforms erodes public confidence and risks setting a dangerous precedent. Agencies should remain nonpartisan and taxpayer resources should not be used for political agendas and messaging.
“Taxpayers deserve government institutions that serve the public interest with neutrality and integrity,” she said.
Some experts told National Public Radio the postings tread close to a violation of the Hatch Act.
Passed in 1939, the Hatch Act “limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, D.C., and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs,” according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel’s website. “​The law’s purposes are to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.”
That agency, which oversees ​​​​enforcement of the Hatch Act, was closed by the shutdown, although complaints may still be filed, its website noted.
Billings Gazette reporter Brett French contributed to this story.
Sam Wilson is the outdoors and environment reporter at the Missoulian.
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