SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST – The night before permits “go live” for the 2025 paddling season in the nation’s most visited wilderness, some employees of the U.S. Forest Service are wondering about their future with the agency.

In a letter sent Jan. 28, President Donald Trump is offering buyouts to many federal workers while noting that it would start holding federal employees to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” amid possible downsizing of various agencies.

The letter, which was drafted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, said federal employees had from today to Feb. 6 to decide if they would like to resign, or potentially risk being eliminated from the federal government workforce. The offer “is available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel of the armed forces, employees of the U.S. Postal Service, those in positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and those in any other positions specifically excluded” by their employing agency.

“If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce,” the memo reads. “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”

The letter, which was sent Tuesday afternoon, is now available online on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website.

The news of a potential massive shakeup of the federal workforce comes on the eve of what has become the busiest days of the year for permit sales for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Permits for the 2025 quota season, which begins May 1, go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29. The website Recreation.gov is managed by a government team and staffed with resources from the participating agencies, according to the site. A team of product, development, and customer engagement “experts” from Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading technology and digital solutions provider for the federal government, are also contracted to assist with building and maintaining the highly complex and high-quality recreation management and reservation service, the site says. 

Paddle and Portage staff reached out to officials from Superior National Forest on another topic earlier Tuesday and heard back at 5:26 p.m. A response from Joy VanDrie, a spokesperson for Superior National Forest, said: “Thank you for your inquiry, however at this time we are unable to locally respond to any media inquiries.

Please send your inquiry to:  SM.FS.pressoffice@usda.gov 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.” 

When we asked for more details regarding the response, VanDrie said she was unable to provide further information.

When Paddle and Portage sent a media request to the email VanDrie directed us to, we received the following (automated) response:

“Thank you for contacting the national press desk for the USDA Forest Service, which is staffed Mon-Fri  8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, with the exception of federally recognized holidays.

Due to the high volume of requests we receive, we are only able to respond to inquiries from media outlets. For non-media related questions, please contact your local National Forest office which can be found at www.fs.usda.gov.

To help us prioritize and best respond to your request, please ensure you include the name of the media outlet, deadline, and detailed request or questions.

If you seek information about active wildfires, please visit InciWeb the Incident Information System (nwcg.gov).

If you are requesting information through the Freedom of Information Act, please contact our FOIA staff at SM.FS.WOFOIA@usda.gov

You can learn more about the Forest Service at About the Agency | US Forest Service (usda.gov)”

The U.S. Forest Service has approximately 30,000 employees working across the country. There are more than 600 ranger districts nationwide, each with a staff of 10 to 100 people, according to the agency. 

The news of possible widespread layoffs on Superior National Forest comes on the heels of a troubling report from late last year when it became apparent that the agency would be short-staffed heading into the busy summer season. This summer, the federal agency will hire limited numbers of seasonal staff, most of them people to fight fires, but temporary summer hires for all other roles — like maintaining portages, digging latrines, issuing permits, and upkeep at campsites in the BWCA Wilderness — will be on hold.

The financial woes are not unique to Superior National Forest. As we reported last fall, this is a nationwide issue for the Forest Service, according to Tom Hall, the forest supervisor for Superior National Forest, which includes the entire BWCA Wilderness.