Video of Bennet’s Remarks Available HERE
Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet delivered a speech on the Senate floor highlighting the threats posed by the mass termination of 3,400 United States Forest Service (USFS) staff, including at least 90 in Colorado.
“The Forest Service employees throughout the West are fundamental to our economy and to our communities in Colorado,” said Bennet. “The fact that they’ve been hard to hire has compromised our communities in really fundamental ways, and we ought to double down on the Forest Service’s mission, investing in wildfire resilience, watershed health, recreation management, rooting out waste, and cutting red tape to make the agency a better partner for rural communities across the country. That’s what we need to be doing.
“Instead, President Trump and Musk’s actions to eviscerate the federal workforce take a torch to that approach and tear at the fabric of our community. It’s an insult to Colorado and all Americans.”
The terminated USFS positions were responsible for wildfire mitigation, range, timber, habitat conservation, outdoor recreation, and other critical forest management. In response, Bennet led a letter with his Colorado colleagues in the House and Senate urging U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to reinstate the affected employees.