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Teton County Commissioners are in the dark following mass layoffs in federal agencies including the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service.
Billionaire Elon Musk and the Trump Administration have fired thousands of federal workers across the nation, including some in Teton County, where several agencies like the Forest Service and National Park Service saw a sizable chunk of their staff fired Feb. 14. Exact numbers have not been confirmed by the agencies, but several people familiar with the Bridger-Teton National Forest told KHOL as many as 40 could have been fired. The Bridger-Teton National Forest employs around 220 people, about 100 of whom are based in Jackson Hole.
County commissioners are urging Wyoming’s congressional delegation to work with President Trump to maintain federal funding for seasonal employees and communicate what changes are made.
“I think we asked the key question in a recent letter,” County Commissioner Wes Gardner said, “what’s the plan?”
Over 97% of land is publicly owned in Teton County— much of it managed by the forest service and National Park Service. If this summer is similar to recent years, over three million people will make their way to Grand Teton National Park and another three million to the Bridger-Teton.
This time, that could be without the help of many who guide hikes, clear trails and manage wildlife and employees for recreators on the millions of acres of public land in Teton County, keeping land accessible, clean and safe.
County Commissioner Len Carlman stressed that the uncertainty makes it hard for commissioners to govern, for the community to do their jobs and locals to know what to expect.
“There’s no precision here, no apparent foresight for what we’re supposed to do or what the agencies are supposed to do,” Carlman said, “but maybe there is a plan and if we ask, maybe we’ll get a constructive response that will help our federal land management agencies meet their responsibilities.”
Gardner and his colleagues recently sent back-to-back letters to Wyoming’s U.S. Sens. Cynthia Lummis and John Barasso and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman.
The first, sent Feb. 18, says the federal hiring freeze will impact the community’s “public safety and economic prosperity.” Another, sent Feb. 24, adds that recent federal firings, especially in the Forest Service, National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, will impact the quality of life for residents in the valley.
It’s unclear how congresspeople may respond to those letters, but in response to media inquiries about the impact of layoffs on Wyomingites and the state economy, each said they support what they see as Trump’s efforts to cut government spending while ensuring that essential federal workers are kept.
“I fully support President Trump’s effort to ferret out the reckless and wasteful spending that has infected our government,” Lummis said.
Gardner is not aligned with that sentiment. The county commissioner said he hasn’t seen executive actions like Trump’s in recent history.
“I’ve seen things that have happened that are outside the norms,” he said, “but this is outside of the norm of the Constitution.”
