Dems say Trump cuts creating chaos as workers lose jobs in Montana

Micah Drew

(Daily Montanan) Democratic leaders at the Montana Capitol said this week the federal job cuts by the Trump administration are harming the state’s people and economy, and one lawmaker from Bozeman demanded a response from the Congressional delegation.

Meanwhile, a former U.S. Forest Service technician who was laid off as part of the cuts at federal agencies said fewer workers on trails means more human waste at outhouses and debris across trails.

The letter from Rep. Scott Rosenszeig, D-Bozeman, sent Wednesday to all four members of Montana’s congressional delegation called on them to provide information to Montanans regarding the more than 1,000 cuts at the National Park Service and more than 4,400 cuts at the U.S. Forest Service including losses in Montana.

The pushback against the cuts at the Forest Service and other agencies took place the same week Montanans held a rally at the Capitol to celebrate public lands. Tuesday, an estimated more than 500 people filled the rotunda and beyond to call on legislators to protect public land and water.

“Our public lands need our love right now more than ever,” said Russ Ehnes, from the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association, one of numerous groups involved in the rally.

In addition to the “Hands Off Public Lands” signs, one person held up a poster that read, “Musk cut my career.” A group of advanced placement students in environmental science from Capitol High School in Helena held up colorful posters too.

“Pollution is not a solution. Coal is not the goal,” read one, with a dripping earth being squeezed by a fist.

Earlier in the week, members of the federal delegation addressed state lawmakers at the Capitol, but Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, said the speeches from Republicans Rep. Ryan Zinke and Sen. Tim Sheehy failed to make the link between fire season and the forest service employees on the ground.

Flowers said he found the delegation’s silence “unacceptable” while “Montanans, our friends and neighbors, are suffering with uncertainty.”

“Why have they not acknowledged the damage that’s happening because of these policies that are coming from this administration in such a random, chaotic way?” Flowers said, pointing to hiring freezes and a halt on grant disbursements that affect Montana families.

House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, D-Missoula, said it isn’t just the people who have been let go who have a problem. Sullivan said other people who work in Montana for federal agencies were “just waiting to be fired.”

“How long do people have to wait to learn if they still have their job?” Sullivan said.

She said projects across the state are in limbo, pointing to the St. Mary’s siphon repairs after a catastrophic break last summer, and soon, campgrounds in Montana and facilities in Glacier and Yellowstone national parks untended, and construction contracts up in the air.

“I would call this pulling the rug out from under Montana businesses, workers and families, and this is not a way to govern, let alone run a business,” Sullivan said.

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At the press conference with Democrats, forestry technician Michael Maierhofer, based in Choteau the last seven years, said he was getting ready to have a Valentine’s Day dinner when he received a call from his supervisor and trainer with what sounded like a scripted message.

He learned he was being let go based on his performance even though he has had a superior record. Maierhofer, a certified wilderness EMT, said the cuts mean a crew of three people instead of 10 to 15 will handle 1,000 miles of trail in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.

“Removing public servants like me does not save money. It damages local rural economies,” Maierhofer said.

Early in the week, he said he was among a group of eight who had been let go, but he expected more, and he said employees in other forest lands were going to be affected as well. He characterized the cut as an unlawful removal.

Maierhofer said he and his colleagues also supported fire crews, and their loss would affect the public.

“There are going to be unmaintained trail heads with restrooms you won’t want to use,” Maierhofer said. “There are roads that are going to have boulders that we can’t get removed.”

Maierhofer said he hoped Montana’s delegation would stand up for workers on the ground, and he also said the news has affected him personally because he and his fiancée were hoping to raise a family in her home state.

Now, Maierhofer said he is working at Costco to help pay the bills. He had taken a farrier course to become a better public servant and will start his own company shoeing horses.

Maierhofer said elected representatives in Washington, D.C., are elected to fight for Montanans, but those officials praised work by the Trump administration in their speeches at the Capitol, and in the meantime, more federal employees were losing their jobs.

“In a sea of applause, we lost more public servants tasked with protecting your forests,” Maierhofer said. “This challenge has derailed my life and my family’s plans.”

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In his letter, Rosenszeig, D-Bozeman, said his constituents and current and former federal employees are “bewildered, concerned and beleaguered with the lack of transparency” around the cuts.

Rosenzweig said he has founded companies and understands the importance of efficient operations, but he said he hasn’t seen a plan that assures taxpayers that federal assets will continue to be well managed.

“Yellowstone National Park is targeted by the recently announced cuts in the National Park Service’s workforce,” he wrote. “How many positions are being eliminated, both permanent and temporary? What is the plan to address the significant demand from tourism and visitation to Yellowstone National Park in the spring, summer and fall of 2025 with such significant cuts in service taking place?”

In an interview, he said visitation to the park has gone up an estimated 25% in the past decade, but the number of employees at the park has dropped roughly 20%.

He said Park County receives an estimated half a billion dollars a year in revenue from tourism, all related to Yellowstone National Park.

“So the disturbance is going to mean a lot, not only for loss of jobs, but from a human perspective,” Rosenszeig said.

He said safety will be compromised in Gateway Communities with a buildup of trash and unsanitary public restrooms. Also, he wrote, the economic impacts are starting to be felt with travel-related cancellations, even though Gardiner and other communities have yet to fully recover from historic flooding in 2022.

Rosenzweig urged the delegation to call for a moratorium on “all cuts in the Yellowstone Gateway Community region” because it is what’ best for his and their constituents, and he requested a response by Feb. 24 given the urgency.

“While joining this effort may be politically difficult for you, it is the right thing to do for the people and the communities we serve,” Rosenzweig wrote.