Veteran Idaho conservationists: Congress must reverse disastrous federal layoffs | Opinion

We want to add our voices to those Idahoans who are calling on our congressional delegation to take action to restore the funding and reverse the recent job layoffs by the Trump administration that have shaken the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Park Service to their foundations.

Collectively we have worked on Idaho conservation and resource management issues for decades, from one end of state to the other. It is our experience through our years of on-the-ground advocacy that the positions eliminated by the Trump administration are crucial to the enjoyment, stewardship, sustainability of Idaho’s public lands and waters heritage.

The positions eliminated are not “government waste” or “bureaucracy.” They are held by people who are the “boots on the ground.”

They work through the seasons controlling invasive weeds, issuing river running permits, cleaning and maintaining campgrounds, rehabilitating and stabilizing burned landscapes, clearing trails, staffing visitor centers, and evaluating and protecting the habitat for our fish and wildlife populations. These folks make up the day-to-day work that maintains the natural character and integrity that we’ve all come to expect of Idaho’s landscape.

Idaho will be a diminished place without the continued work and effort that these folks put into their jobs.

Outdoor recreation creates nearly $4 billion for Idaho’s economy, and our public lands and waters are the rock-solid foundation for that industry. That sector of the economy cannot be allowed to slowly disintegrate because of lack of care and knowledgeable people on the job.

The U.S. Congress authorized funding for these agencies, and the U.S. Congress needs to assert its authority on its own funding decisions. The Idaho delegation needs to take the necessary steps to restore these positions that contribute so much to the life we enjoy here in Idaho. These jobs cuts cannot be allowed to stand.