The Mountaineers
Our community knows well the critical role that land managers play in the conservation of our shared public lands. During our annual Donor and Volunteer Block Party this spring, attendees shared their appreciation by signing six thank you cards to federal land managers. As a significantly reduced land manager workforce faces growing challenges, our support is deeply appreciated, and there's more we can do to support sustainable management of Washington’s parks and forests.
We’re encouraging all Mountaineers to double down on responsible recreation when visiting public lands during the busy summer season. Another important way to support public lands and the staff that steward them is by sharing your observations and experiences from your outdoor trips. With deep staffing cuts at the Forest Service and Park Service this year - and further reductions in force anticipated - there are fewer eyes out on the landscape. For example, there’s been a 40-70% reduction in recreation staff on Washington’s national forests this year. As a result, there may be slower response times when maintenance, operations, and public safety issues arise.
As you’ve visited public lands for Mountaineers trips and other adventures this summer, you might have encountered overflowing garbage cans, improper parking, and more blow-downs on trails. The Mountaineers and our partners continue the work of amplifying recreation impacts and advocating for increasing staffing and funding, and we need your help. Take a few minutes to share a brief anecdote from a recent visit to Washington’s public lands.
One of the places we’re seeing recreation impacts in Washington is the Alpine Lakes Wilderness - the most visited Wilderness in the country. Drastic reductions in Forest Service staff in the Enchantments area of the Wilderness have impacted the agency’s ability to service backcountry pit toilets. The removal of trash and human waste in the Enchantments requires significant land manager people power: in 2024, Wilderness rangers in the Enchantments buried 703 piles of human waste, removed 5,000 pounds of it via flight, and hiked out 635 pounds of trash. For more on this messy situation, check out Rep. Kim Schrier’s (WA-08) letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins on this issue. Have you visited the Enchantments this summer? We’d love to hear about your experience.
It can be hard to know if what you’re seeing is a new development related to recent staffing cuts or not. Here’s a good way to gauge which impacts to share with us: if something seemed out of the ordinary to you, like extremely congested roads or improper parking, overflowing trash, blocked trails, or closed-off access, we’d like to hear about it.
While federal public lands like Washington’s six national forests and three national parks have been hit the hardest by funding cuts and workforce reductions, we’re also interested in your experiences on Washington state-managed public lands. Unsure of what might be helpful? Share anyway!
Excess trash outside a frontcountry toilet in the Chinook Pass area of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Photo by Jan Bird, courtesy of Washington Trails Association.
Go the extra mile to support land managers by taking five minutes to complete our survey and share your experiences on Washington’s public lands this summer. Your feedback will help us communicate those impacts directly with land managers and continue to put an authentic Mountaineers flavor on our advocacy for adequate public lands funding.
Thanks for adventuring with purpose by recreating responsibly and sharing your recreation impact stories. By raising awareness of the impacts of a reduced land manager workforce, we can achieve a more sustainable future for our shared public lands.
