Forest Service significant employer

COLVILLE – Just how many people will the federal layoffs affect? The largest federal employer in the Tri County area is the Colville National Forest. Just how many people work for the Colville National Forest, which includes the Newport-Sullivan Lake Ranger District, and how many will be laid off?

The Newport-Sullivan Lake Forest District couldn’t provide an answer. A call and follow-up email to the Colville National Forest public affairs officer was forwarded to United States Department of Agriculture, which the Forest Service falls under.

A response on behalf of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins from an unnamed USDA spokesperson says she supports President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce, including the Forest Service.

“Secretary Rollins fully supports the President’s directive to improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people. We have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar spent goes to serve the people, not the bureaucracy,” the response sent by email reads.

“As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational firefighters. Released employees were probationary in status, many of whom were compensated by temporary IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) funding. It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to pay them long term. Secretary Rollins is committed to preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted.”

But the question about how many people work in the Colville National Forest wasn’t answered.

Forest Service jobs are family wage jobs. According to the Northeast Washington Trends website, funded by Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis, the average annual federal wage in Pend Oreille County was $88,135 in 2023, the latest year available.

There were 106 federal workers in Pend Oreille County, with $9.34 million in federal wages paid in Pend Oreille County in 2023. Federal employers include U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Forest Service workers.

Federal, state and local government wages totaled $114 million that year, according to the NE Washington Trends website, citing information from the state Department of Employment Security. There was $185 billion paid from all sources in total wages in Pend Oreille County in 2023.

The Colville National Forest Service headquarters is in Colville.

In Stevens County, where Colville is located, there are 324 federal workers, many of which are Forest Service workers. Stevens County also has a border crossing, so there are Customs and Border Patrol workers counted among the federal employees.

Between layoffs and resignations, the downsizing of the federal workforce may have significant economic effects, says Dr. Patrick Jones, who heads up EWU’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.

He said even a relatively small percentage of federal layoffs in either Pend Oreille or Stevens counties would make a “not small dent in personal incomes.”

Jones said the federal workforce in Pend Oreille County has decreased from 109 pre COVID to 101 in 2023.