Protecting Outdoor Recreation Access on Public Lands Amid Federal Layoffs
This article was published in the Asheville Citizen Times and MSN.
By Mike Reardon. Mike Reardon is the Executive Director of the Carolina Climbers Coalition, residing in Asheville with his family. He has been a steadfast advocate for climbing access and conservation since 2009.
Just two days after my home in Asheville received power following Hurricane Helene, I received messages from multiple National Forest staff with empowering directions on how I could help assess damage and help speed up the recovery process. The Forest Service staff’s quick ability to respond to the immense destruction of the storm helped deploy skilled volunteers, myself included, working to assess damages on the Forest in hopes of restoring access. Access to our National Forests are something my family, community, and region rely on, but do not take for granted. For well over a decade, I have worked on stewardship and access efforts with the Carolina Climbers Coalition (CCC), focused on expanding and preserving climbing access across the Carolinas. Our work has included policy collaborations and stewardship work with the US Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS), mainly surrounding climbing access areas.
The recent federal layoffs targeting the USFS and NPS have cast a shadow over our public lands. Nationwide, thousands of these federal employees have been terminated, with North Carolina's cherished parks and forests directly feeling the impact. In Western North Carolina, these cuts have led to a significant reduction in staff including 17 layoffs in the already understaffed North Carolina National Forests.
The staff reductions here in North Carolina included individuals focused on disaster relief, trail maintenance and access work, fire protection, guiding permits, sawyer safety, rare species protections, communications, volunteer coordination, and helping manage the very lands that make our outdoor experiences possible. Access to sight seeing, climbing, hiking, backpacking, camping, hunting, fishing, biking, paddling, equestrian, and other outdoor recreation pursuits on public lands will be negatively affected by these layoffs. For many of us in Western North Carolina, these outdoor pursuits are the reasons we live and work in the region. These lands are our respite, our conduit for mental and physical health.
The consequences of these layoffs extend beyond inconvenience. The constant threat of wildfires and other natural disasters will have even fewer federal staff to help curb its dangerous impacts on our National Forests and communities surrounding them. Imagine the Forest Service’s ability to respond to our next natural disaster with an even smaller skeleton crew. Roads, bridges, and trails washed out by Hurricane Helene or the next storm will have even longer delays to reopen, locking us out of our public lands. The ripple effect of these federal spending budget cuts have also been felt by regional and national nonprofits that are able to serve the forest in ways that the pre-cut federal staff allotment was not able to handle, yet these nonprofits are now seeing their funding opportunities diminished as well. At the Carolina Climbers Coalition, we have seen several grants that would help us serve the forest be placed on pause or disappear. Other nonprofit partner organizations are having to lay off staff due the axing of similar federal grants and funding.
North Carolina’s economy relies on outdoor recreation. The economic impacts of future closures, natural disaster response, and lack of maintenance of our public lands will be felt in each town in Western North Carolina. In 2023, the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed outdoor recreation added $16.1 billion or 2.1% to NC’s economy. This contribution includes 145,433 direct jobs. Our public lands are managed by federal workers that represent a fraction of a percent of the direct jobs that our access to these lands create. The return on investment is palpable, yet ignored.
It's imperative that our elected officials recognize the gravity of this situation. Along wIth national partners such as the Access Fund and Outdoor Alliance, we have worked with Senator Tillis and Representative Edwards to pass the bipartisan EXPLORE Act through Congress. We know that they understand the importance of outdoor recreation, and the importance of federal staff to support North Carolina residents and visitors on our public lands. I urge our representatives to advocate for the immediate reinstatement of these essential positions within the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. The vitality of our public lands, the safety of their visitors, and the future of our outdoor recreation economy in North Carolina depend on swift and decisive action.
Our public lands are a testament to our collective commitment to conservation, recreation, and community. Let us not allow short-sighted decisions to undermine the legacy we've worked so hard to build.
Lastly, we would like to thank the 100+ member orgs of the Outdoor Alliance for signing on to this letter to congress on March 17, 2025