The U.S. Forest Service is hiring up to 2,000 seasonal workers for the summer in a reversal from the agency’s last hiring period.
In fall 2024, former President Joe Biden’s Forest Service chief announced the agency would not be hiring non-fire seasonal workers. The move was blamed on a budget shortfall.
Then on Thursday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that her department, the parent organization of the U.S. Forest Service, is now accepting applications for anyone who “enjoy(s) being in the outdoors and (is) interested in seasonal employment with the Forest Service.”
Rollins said the renewed hiring capacity stems from the department’s increased efficiency. The announcement promised applicants a streamlined hiring process and shortened hiring times.
The Department of Agriculture is focused on “restoring fiscal responsibility, efficiency and accountability,” she said.
“We have addressed millions of dollars in salary deficits inherited from the previous administration,” she said. “The Forest Service is now on a path to fiscal solvency and able to fill these critical seasonal positions to improve services for visitors this summer.”
Forest Service sees structural changes and federal funding increase
In mid-January, President Donald Trump signed a funding package that allocated $22 million for trail maintenance during the fiscal 2026 year. It included a 10% increase in funding for national trails.
“Congress recognized the funding needs for trail maintenance and the reports coming out of the Forest Service on the declining condition of trails justifying the increase,” a senior director at the American Hiking Society told Politico.
Meanwhile, Rollins proposed a massive restructuring to her department to “reduce bureaucracy and cost savings for the American people.”
The plan, which is said to be completed in 2026, will move more than half of the department’s D.C.-based staff to five hubs across the U.S. Hubs in the West are located in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City.
U.S. Forest Service says it will focus on hiring locals
Forest Chief Tom Schultz, who previously served in a leadership capacity for Idaho Forest Group in Coeur d’Alene, said this year his agency is “focusing our recruitment within the communities we serve.”
“Local residents bring invaluable knowledge, pride and a strong connection to the places we care for. We are excited to offer more opportunities for people who want to work close to home,” he said.