Randy Moore issued the email as thousands of agency employees were fired as part of President Trump’s government cuts led by Elon Musk’s DOGE
Thousands of Forest Service employees were fired as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) escalate their cost-cutting efforts to downsize the federal government.
The U.S. Forest Service Chief announced his retirement in a sobering email to staff Wednesday as 3,400 federal employees at the agency face layoffs, roughly 10 percent of its workforce. Experts have warned the cuts may impact the federal government ability to fight increasingly brutal wildfires while managing millions of acres of land across the country.
“The past several weeks has been incredibly difficult,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in the email, which was also shared on the Forest Service website. “If you are feeling uncertainty, frustration, or loss, you are not alone. These are real and valid emotions that I am feeling, too,” he wrote. “Please take care of yourselves and each other. I have been silent these last few weeks because these decisions are being made at a level above our organization, and I was and am learning about the changes the same time as many of you. Our focus now is on how we respond and adapt to new priorities and continue delivering on our mission with the workforce we have.”
Moore, the first Black chief of the Forest Service, has held the position since 2021. His career in conservation began 1978 with the Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota, before he joined the United States Forest Service in 1981. He also served as regional forester in the Pacific Southwest, overseeing 18 national forests in California.
Despite the devastating cuts, Moore reminded employees that their work serving and protecting communities, helping small business owners, providing drinking water to 80 million Americans, and providing “energy independence to the nation” through leases were “vital to the American way of life.”
“Thank you for your dedication to our mission and for the work you carry out every day,” he wrote. “You and the work you do are meaningful, and do not let anyone make you believe otherwise.”
