SACRAMENTO, CA – Nearly 4,000 campsites across California’s 18 national forests could close this summer due to severe staffing shortages and stalled contracts, according to an internal U.S. Forest Service document. These potential closures stem from recent federal government firings and budget freezes.
An internal Forest Service email from February 18th instructed California forest supervisors to identify public facilities at risk of closure due to these issues. The email warned that “unforeseen impacts and changed conditions, as well as financial limitations may render some sites unsafe, or too challenging to open to full capacity in 2025.”
The staffing crisis follows the termination of at least 2,000 federal employees last month. Former and current Forest Service staff report that firings and contractor payment issues have affected the majority of California’s national forests…