Thank you NFFE!
RAs cannot be revoked by the agency. They stay with the individual and not the job! If you are impacted by the reorg and have an RA that is threatened, let your Union rep know and notify EEOC. You absolutely should NOT be required to go through the RA process again.
Also, NFFE considers this an "illegal dismantling" of the agency.
So does transfer of station (TOS) apply if you relocate yourself?
My favorite part of these meetings, besides the sheer incompetence spewed by these idiots, is making a mental note of every SES who comes on camera and speaks positively for these changes.
Can’t wait to see all these people get the axe.
How long are we going to be exploited by this administration? Most of us have been working one or two grades higher than we should be for over a year with double or triple the workload and no pay increases. When does leadership get a backbone and stand up for employees and the mission? Can we file grievances for this bullshit? I’m about to put in my two weeks but I know it’s not worth it. How can we fight back against what they are doing? So many of our staff areas they can’t or won’t fill behind but are completely demolished due to the DRP.
Like if DOGE were actually trying to help the FS with efficiency and technology instead of just blowing shit up, what would they fix first and why?
Pay attention to section 8303 and beyond- read it! Conveyance, gutting ESA and NHPA, expanding CEs, reducing fire as a tool, privatizing R&D, new reporting requirements for timber, audit of FACTS fuels treatments and more.
I work for a research station. I've heard that on forests, many higher-up (district foresters, district bios, rec leads, etc.) folks aren't "officially" supervisors. They pretty much do all the supervision of seasonal staff except for some of the formal paperwork. I've heard that this is the case especially so that these employees can be represented by NFFE. Can anybody who works on a forest chime in? Is this true?
Trying to decide if a supervisory pd is right for me when the chances of hiring seasonal staff are so low, plus I don't want to give up union rep. It doesn't seem like there are many benefits to becoming an official supervisor. Thank you.
As Public Service Recognition Week comes to a close, I want to personally thank each of you for continuing to perform the actual functions of this agency while leadership conducts an exciting live-action experiment in organizational collapse.
It remains the honor of a lifetime to lead an organization whose mission I was briefly introduced to during onboarding. Everywhere I go, I’m impressed by the professionalism, adaptability, and emotional restraint of employees who continue showing up despite receiving communications that read like they were generated by an HR chatbot trapped inside a McKinsey presentation.
When I meet with partners, stakeholders, and elected officials, they consistently express appreciation for your work managing forests, wildfire response, recreation, research, watersheds, and infrastructure. They also quietly ask whether anyone currently steering the agency has ever spent more than six consecutive minutes in a national forest.
As we continue our reorganization, I recognize many employees may be experiencing confusion, concern, or the subtle sensation of watching a beloved institution get sold for parts. Change is difficult. Especially the kind of change created by political appointees whose primary management experience involved forwarding emails marked “high importance.”
That’s why your participation in upcoming working groups is so important. These sessions will provide a valuable opportunity for employees to share insights, expertise, and carefully reasoned concerns that leadership can later ignore with greater efficiency.
I also want to thank those of you continuing to mentor younger employees while simultaneously training your own replacements, covering vacant positions, and pretending morale surveys still matter.
As we enter another busy fire season, please remember that safety remains our top priority, immediately after budget reductions, hiring freezes, travel restrictions, attrition, centralized decision-making, and whatever “operational streamlining” means this week.
And while many of you may feel exhausted watching decades of institutional knowledge leave the building, I encourage you to remain optimistic. According to several consultants earning the GDP of a small county, this is all part of a bold modernization effort designed to increase efficiency by removing most of the people who know how anything works.
Thank you again for your continued service to the American people. Your dedication, competence, and willingness to hold this place together with duct tape and suppressed rage has not gone unnoticed.
From the basement of some building in SLC or Idaho or another location undisclosed,
Chief TS
Editor’s Note: Please continue submitting feedback to the FS-Employee Feedback inbox, where it will be carefully reviewed, categorized, and transformed into a future leadership podcast transcript about resilience.
Wow. Everyone I worked with before 1039's were eliminated at the end of 2024 seem like different people in 2026. They're stressed out and miserable in their personal and work lives. It feels toxic. Rejoining a formerly supportive, friendly environment only to find out what I thought I was coming back to doesn't exist anymore makes me just want to fend for myself and exit after week one. I'm no one's punching bag. I don't do it to them, and I might be just as miserable and frustrated. No more solidarity. I'm out.
Chief says everyone has an opinion and OGC said it’s legal… The Forest Service Reorganization Is Illegal
Chief says OGC said it’s legal for reorganization and everyone has an opinion. Chief says Congress was notified however, FSC (NFFE) chimed in and said they were notified at the same time as Congress. Congress and NFFE has a lot of questions and they’re waiting for answers. FSC (NFFE) will be pushing for an injunction to stop the reorganization.
Interesting, Chief is in SLC and his internet connection went out during his opening speech. Anyone in the SLC office have any options with the reorganization.
More to come as Chief dodged questions with Congress and Union demanding answers. Smoke and mirrors
\#NFFE; #Forestservice; #IAM
Near me is Hay Meadow Falls campground and hiking trail. It has a special place in my heart and my older brothers as their father always took them there and taught them how to fish when they were little and my brothers took me there and did the same. My father worked for the forest service in Escanaba and passed when I was 7.
The bridge crossing the stream at the falls that is essential for the hiking loop has been closed and dangerous for almost 10 years. It's just a two log and 2x4 bridge spanning maybe 20-25 feet. I believe it was built by the boy scouts. The bridge is still standing and someone keeps ripping down the boards and fencing blocking it off.
Small town coincidence I ran into someone connected to the USFS in the area and apparently a new (I believe she said metal) bridge is sitting somewhere and has been for years. I was curious what kind of red tape and gov BS it would take to maybe assemble a volunteer team to start fixing the place up.
It's just sad thinking there's a big hunk of something sitting there waiting for it's home while the trail and bridge slowly disintegrate. If nothing's going to happen I'd rather have everything removed and returned to a pristine untouched state. Any insight to how this kind of stuff goes would be greatly appreciated
*Edit: Just scrolled through this subreddit and the irony of me posting this in the middle of the current situation is hilarious (and depressing).
*Edit #2: All my questions have been answered. Thank you to those that reached out and were helpful. I didn't realize this would be so controversial. Just a guy wanting to better his community/forest. For those of you who didn't have anything positive to say shame on you, you're part of the problem.
Chief says OGC said it’s legal for reorganization and everyone has an opinion. Chief says Congress was notified however, FSC (NFFE) chimed in and said they were notified at the same time as Congress. Congress and NFFE has a lot of questions and they’re waiting for answers. FSC (NFFE) will be pushing for an injunction to stop the reorganization.
Interesting, Chief is in SLC and his internet connection went out during his opening speech. Anyone in the SLC office have any options with the reorganization.
More to come as Chief dodged questions with Congress and Union demanding answers. Smoke and mirrors
#NFFE; #Forestservice; #IAM