BILLINGS — For Adam Sadowski, a passion for the great outdoors turned into a fulfilling career in the Beartooth Ranger District in southern Montana, until recent federal layoffs changed everything.
“I wanted to be somewhere where the land felt expansive and looked the way that it used to look,” Sadowski said on Tuesday. “It’s a dream job because I get to be in a place that I care about.”
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That dream was shattered as Sadowski, who has dedicated the past four summers to clearing and building trails with the Beartooth Ranger District, was laid off on Feb. 14. He said he is one of nine employees based in Red Lodge now without a job.
“I was the crew lead for the last three years, and everybody below me was terminated,” Sadowski said. "It was crushing, you know. It's such a big piece of my life. I've dedicated my entire life and working experience to this."
The Trump Administration fired thousands of U.S. Forest and National Park Service employees starting Feb. 14 as part of a larger push to cut government spending. At least 360 Forest Service positions in Montana are being eliminated.
Steven Gutierrez, a national business representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees, represents many of those affected and recognizes the broader implications of these layoffs.
“It’s just crazy to me that a swipe of a pen is affecting so many people with utter disregard for not just federal employees, but the public too,” Gutierrez stated. “(The public is) going to see trails that aren't opened, trash cans overflowing, wildfires going unmitigated, and no prescribed burns happening.”
Workers received impersonal notifications, stating that their performance was not "up to standard" and thus deemed not in the public's interest.
“They all received a blanket template email saying goodbye. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Gutierrez said. "Many of them have gotten performance awards. They've gotten performance appraisals saying that they're fully successful or they're outstanding. They received, you know, plaques and medals that they have all the good work that they've done."
With their dream jobs turned into uncertainty, former employees express deep concern over the impact on natural resources and local communities.
“To just be to be slandered the way that we are, it's tough. But, I can say, in talking with the people of my community, we are more concerned about the impacts to the land and the work that we've invested our lives into,” Sadowski said. "It's so much tougher for me to think about the unfinished projects in the Beartooth that I am leaving behind, more than I'm worried about my future employment."
While the union hopes to reverse these layoffs in court, many employees are left contemplating their next steps.
"We are connecting them with the AFL-CIO, which is the overall federation for unions," Gutierrez said. "Hopefully an avenue to get either retrained for another job to get them there or help them file paperwork for unemployment. Some type of overall encompassing to get them back up on their feet. But hopefully with our legal action, we'll be able to like reverse course, but ultimately that's that's in the court's hands."
The effects of these decisions extend beyond just those who lost their jobs. For communities reliant on well-maintained outdoor spaces, the consequences are significant.
"No one is a federal employee to become a millionaire. No one does this to become a millionaire. They do this because they're dedicated to the service. They're dedicated to the people, and they're passionate," Gutierrez said.
As Montanans grapple with these layoffs, thousands remain uncertain about their livelihoods and the preservation and maintenance of the natural spaces they fought to protect.
“We were doing this job for you and for the land,” Sadowski said. “What I can do to spread awareness that these impacts are going to be apparent is something that keeps my mind off the sadness of losing my job.”
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