NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Thousands of federal workers are losing their jobs as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending.
The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service are set to fire a combined 4,400 workers who are still within their probationary period, or within their first one or two years on the job.
The layoffs which have sparked concerns about wildlife protection efforts across the country, have left some state agencies in limbo about potential impacts.
According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, forest covers more than 60% of the land across the state. Whether state, federal or privately owned, agencies work together to protect it.
“People are surprised to learn what we do, and it is a little bit of everything,” N.C. Forest Service public information officer Philip Jackson said. “These hazards, they don’t just stop at private property or stop at national forest land, and so, working together on these things, whether it is sharing money, sharing resources, sharing personnel… it’s an ongoing and continuing effort.”
N.C. Forest Service has resources across all 100 counties across the state. While Jackson says resources are dedicated to forest management and protection, including wildfire response, the agency wears several hats. It also protects and monitors invasive insects and provides emergency response following natural disasters like Hurricane Helene.
Right now, the agency is understaffed with about 100 job vacancies state-wide.
“That is not exactly a group that you want to see the vacancy rate climb up anymore,” Jackson said.
While the state agency has not been impacted by President Trump’s call for layoffs, a major partner on the federal level has.
The National Forest Service, which is set to layoff 3,400 recent hires, overseas at least 10 national parks across North Carolina and frequently shares funding, resources, and personnel with the N.C Forest Service to tackle challenges that cross state and federal jurisdictions.
“We don’t know what we don’t know just yet. We will probably learn more with each passing day of how things are going to be impacted and what the domino effect will be both short term and long term,” Jackson said.
Queen City News reached out to the National Forest Service of North Carolina to ask how many federal workers were impacted by layoffs across the state. The agency did not respond by the deadline.
