From Channel Islands National Park to the Los Padres National Forest, thousands of National Park and U.S. Forest Service workers have been laid off in the wake of budget cuts under the Trump administration.
"It's just so insulting to have someone that knows nothing about what I do come in and say, the government no longer needs you," said Benjamin Vizzachero, former biologist for the U.S. Forest Service.
Vizzachero worked in the Los Padres National Forest for one year. In January of 2025, he got a raise and in February, he says he was fired on the grounds of poor performance.
"The fact that they're saying it's performance-based when I can prove that it was not was evidence to me that they know they're doing something illegal," Vizzachero said.
A USDA spokesperson said around 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service have been released. The spokesperson says the cuts were done to, “Improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people.”
Vizzachero says he is among four of those workers with Los Padres and feels the layoffs will have a big impact on public safety, endangered species, and wildfire risk.
"They say they're not firing firefighters, but it takes a lot more than firefighters to manage wildfire, and it becomes a safety risk… Having a big federal workforce gives us the reserve to help fight the blazes," Vizzachero said.
Off the coast, Channel Islands National Park biologist Kenan Chan experienced something similar.
"So, I started working for the parks in October 2024, and I received my termination letter on February 14th," Chan said.
He says he and five others were let go from Channel Islands National Park based on poor performance, which he says is inaccurate.
"Many of us had received positive performance reviews and some of us were also in the position for such a short period of time. In our most recent role, some people weren't even given a performance review yet," Chan said.
Chan has worked on and off for national parks for more than a decade and says positions are commonly understaffed.
"We were working the jobs of multiple people and we weren't getting paid a ton, and we were okay with that because we did love, you know, these public lands," Chan said.
Vizzachero and Chan both worry about the future of public lands should terminations continue.
"The land doesn't maintain itself. It takes a lot of hard-working people. People that are dedicated people that love this place," Vizzachero said.
"We do it to protect and preserve the land. And, you know, these areas are for everybody," Chan said.
