A Letter From The Inside: Unjustified Terminations.
The following is a letter sent to me by a manager in the Forest Service: 🙏
Thank you for your article posts.
Yesterday was a terrible day where we had to terminate coworkers and the only reason provided was a lie. We are hurting and being hobbled by people who have no authenticity or interest in knowing anything about the consequences of their decisions.
Since January 20th the federal civilian service have been under assault and slandered by the new administration. We anticipate change with every new administration but this has been different.
The USFS employees approximately 35,000 employees. 11,300 of which are considered primary fire employees. Yesterday we were required to begin the termination of 3,400 employees or nearly 10% of the overall USFS workforce.
While generalizations about reducing the workforce have been made there has been no clear explanation for why they are being terminated.
The language on the termination letter being issued to these employees states, "The Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment with the Agency,"
This is not why these employees are being terminated. I can vouch for several being outstanding employees and their loss is an impact and setback to the agency. As one high level manager stated after having to terminate multiple employees, “this makes me sick, it’s a lie, these are outstanding employees and individuals and we are being forced to fire them and the only reason provided is an absolute lie.”
No clear communication has come down from above on what is happening. In addition to these terminations we have had funds frozen, in a hiring freeze, and offers rescinded. We have been hearing for over two weeks that fire personnel will be deemed exempt under public safety but we have yet to receive that officially and nationally new hires are being delayed in able to report to work and we cannot say whether they have a job or not. Currently 20% of our units fire program is stalled in on boarding primary fire personnel including critical positions with crucial qualifications. Delays in onboarding significantly impacts our planning process and staffing.
Yet tonight we receive our first communication from newly appointed Secretary Brooke Rollins of the USDA. It was a letter from Secretary Rollins that stated, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the largest and most sophisticated wildland firefighting workforce in the world, and I am honored to serve and support you.”
On the day we are starting termination of 10% of our workforce that is what our Secretary has to say to us yet never address the actual issue at hand. It is tone deaf and divisive. It fails in the most basic of leadership.
In Fire we have what we call our core values- duty, integrity, respect. Secretary Rollins would do well to review those values and the 11 associated principles. I would recommend starting with reading, Becoming Authentic: The Heart of Leadership in Wildland Fire Management.
“In the early 2000s, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s Leadership Subcommittee introduced three core leadership values—duty, respect, and integrity—as a basis for shaping the kind of leaders we as fire professionals would like to follow. The core leadership values are associated with 11 principles.
However, evidence suggests that more than following the 11 principles outlined under duty, respect, and integrity is needed to truly become an accomplished leader (Waldron and Ebbeck 2015). Leadership necessitates interconnectedness—the understanding of others and the subsequent development of relationships.”
Leaders with these values would know that this letter is tone deaf. They would address the actual events significantly impacting the Agency. They would know that we are still awaiting exemptions to resume hiring of fire fighters. They would understand that many of the individuals terminated today and in the coming days are qualified fire fighters and fire support personnel just not primary fire employees. Their terminations will directly impact the USFS fire fighting efforts in planning, preparation, response and in land management to help reduce fire risks and implement needed prescribed fire projects on the landscape.
On the unit I work on 75% on the employees that hold qualifications to support fire are not in primary fire positions. They provide significant support to local and national efforts by bolstering the fire program.
The USFS, along with most federal Agencies, are under orders to not post anything on social media unless there is a life safety or closure notice. The Department level social media sites have been recently posting but are clearly crafted messages to proclaim the success of the administration reading more like propaganda then actual information relevant to the Department and its Agencies.
It is worth being clear on probation periods in the federal workforce. The general public tend to view an employee being placed on probation status as an action taken due to an employees poor performance.
The fact is that federal employees are placed in probation status and comes with specific responsibilities of the supervisor of the employees that are in that status.
The current terminations of employees in probation status is not impacting just new to federal government employees.
It is terminating employees that have years and occasionally decades of experience. Employees that have retired from the military and were hired using the Veterans Recruitment Authority (1 in 3 federal employees are veterans of the US Armed Forces).
These are high quality/high performing employees that fill key roles and hold critical qualifications to help the agencies complete their missions.
Many of these employees also hold fire qualifications and expertise. Their removal is a significant impact to the agency.
Thanks for your time and help in informing people.
THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP — Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.
The wording in the termination letter is incredibly offensive. Also stupid. But that's the hallmark of the Trump /Musk "government."
Now they collect unemployment while looking for new jobs. Sure does save the government money. I suppose most of America doesn't care about maintaining trails and campgrounds because they've never left their concrete jungle.