A week ago, we reported that Trump’s executive orders may derail MTB trail projects across the nation, and impacts from the new administration are already being felt. The federal government has just laid off roughly 10% of its workforce across public land management agencies, which includes the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The layoffs have targeted employees with less than one year of service, which has resulted in about 5,000 people being terminated across these agencies and 220,000 across the entire federal government.
Many thousands of miles of the best mountain bike trails in the country are located on federal lands managed by the Forest Service and the BLM. Both agencies have been chronically understaffed, to the point where even before the layoffs, it was difficult for them to deal with requests for new mountain bike trails. A lack of staff has often resulted in lengthy delays and protracted approval processes.
These processes are about to get a lot longer and harder. While reporting on trail stories in the past week, we’ve already begun hearing about staffing changes in agency field offices slowing down trail and recreation-related processes.
According to the Outdoor Alliance, these layoffs “disproportionately affect on-the-ground staff—the very people who maintain trails, manage campgrounds, and ensure visitor safety,” since they target the newest hires, which “are often essential to outdoor recreation. They maintain trails, manage campgrounds and facilities, assist visitors, issue permits, support search and rescue operations, respond to emergencies, monitor wildlife, and restore landscapes by removing invasive species and aiding in reforestation. Eliminating these roles will directly impact the quality and accessibility of outdoor recreation.”
The latest layoffs only exacerbate current trends
Over the last ten years, the number of staff working at public land management agencies has steadily declined. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, since 2010, the National Parks Service has seen a 20% reduction in full-time staff. At the same time, visitation has increased by 16%.
In October, we reported that “‘Critical work,’ including trail maintenance, won’t be completed in National Forests across the USA following a ~$500 million budget cut.” This budget cut will prevent the Forest Service from hiring any temporary seasonal staff for 2025 (aside from temporary firefighting positions). Many of these temporary positions were responsible for trail maintenance on public lands.
The Forest Service already has a multi-billion dollar trail maintenance backlog, and it’s clear that this backlog is only going to get worse.
How will recent legislation be implemented?
The bipartisan EXPLORE Act was just passed in late 2024, and the BOLT Act (a portion of EXPLORE) mandates that these land management agencies identify at least 10 existing long-distance bike trails and identify at least 10 areas where there is an opportunity to develop or complete such trails.
But how will they fulfill their congressional mandate without the staff to do the work?
“Without adequate staffing at land management agencies, [the EXPLORE Act’s] implementation will be nearly impossible,” wrote the Outdoor Alliance. “From streamlining permits to improving recreation infrastructure, every aspect of the bill depends on having enough skilled agency staff to carry out its vision. Cutting the very workforce responsible for making public lands accessible directly undermines the progress Congress just made.”
The Outdoor Alliance encourages you to write your legislative representative
The Outdoor Alliance has issued a call to all adventurers who use our public lands to “write your lawmakers right now and ask them to push back against cuts to land management agencies, especially for on-the-ground staff who are crucial to outdoor recreation experiences this spring, summer, and fall.”
To make the task easier, they’ve provided a simple form that you can fill out, on their website.
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