BOISE, ID – U.S. Forest Service officials announced additional cutbacks and temporary closures of ranger district offices in Idaho on Monday on the heels of retirements and deferred resignation programs offered by President Donald Trump.
Effective immediately, the McCall, New Meadows and Weiser ranger district offices will temporarily close until further notice, Payette National Forest officials announced in a news release issued Tuesday.
No reopening timeline was announced.
The three temporary closures were announced less than two weeks after Sawtooth National Forest officials said they temporarily closed Sawtooth National Recreation Area offices in Stanley and Ketchum through June 16 due to staff reductions.
Additionally, the Council Ranger District Office and the supervisors office in McCall are operating under new hours – from 8 a.m. to noon and 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Payette National Forest officials said Tuesday.
Officials with the Payette National Forest said forest leaders are adjusting to losses in personnel due to retirements and deferred resignations.
“We have adjusted our hours to allow current staffing to best serve the many communities surrounding the Payette National Forest, with the overall goal of improvement to our public services while providing access to the outdoors that we all love,” Payette National Forest Forest Supervisor Matt Davis said in a written statement. “The safety and enjoyment of our visitors remain top priorities, and we’ll steward the areas we can with available staff and resources.”
As part of its effort to reduce the federal workforce, the Trump Administration offered a deferred resignation program to thousands of federal workers – including U.S. Forest Service workers – that allowed them to quit their jobs but continue to be paid through September, States Newsroom previously reported.
The temporary closures to U.S. Forest Service offices in Stanley, Ketchum, McCall, New Meadows and Weiser are arriving in conjunction with the kickoff to the busy summer recreation season on public lands in Idaho.
In recent years, Idaho has been experiencing record usage of public lands, campgrounds and trails.
Some conservationists worry the reduction in U.S. Forest Service staff and cutbacks to offices won’t actually succeed in reducing government excess and waste.
Instead, they worry it will make it harder to provide the public with information about fire safety, food storage requirements in bear country, directions to recreation sites, hazards such as bear activity or trail closures and help novice campers understand how to extinguish campfires and pack out their trash.
Josh Johnson, central Idaho director for the Idaho Conservation League, said countless people visit U.S. Forest Services offices every day seeking basic assistance.
“To not have Forest Service staff available to support visitors, help them find out where they need to go, answer questions and respond to other issues is a problem and unfortunate,” Johnson said in a May 23 interview.
“You can’t expect to eliminate as much forest service staff as you have and still provide essential services people are used to seeing …,” Johnson added.
With the temporary ranger office closures in place and new hours at other facilities, officials with the Payette National Forest are urging the public to visit their website for information about closures and the availability of recreation sites.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
