Colorado veteran working for U.S. Forest Service among thousands laid off by feds nationwide
A Navy veteran who worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado was recently laid off in the recent nationwide federal workforce cuts impacting Americans. CBS News Colorado spoke to her about her experience and reaction to the decisions by the president and his administration.
Coloradan Amelia Huffman was part of the recent federal layoffs. She was let go from her visitor services job with Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland.
"Even the last week that I was working there, I got a call from someone from the public saying they saw smoke, and they didn't know what to do. So what they did was they called us," Huffman said. "We can do the research on our end to ensure that it's not a prescribed fire."
Roughly 3,400 service employees were laid off across the country in February with about 10% of their workforce. It's part of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the federal workforce. According to reporting from the Associated Press, a handful of those firings have been reversed.
Gov. Jared Polis has characterized the layoffs of around 100 U.S. Forest Service workers in Colorado as "a reckless endangerment to Coloradans." The state is home to 11 national forests that make up more than 20% of the land in Colorado.
Colorado's U.S. senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, say those terminations include positions responsible for wildfire mitigation as well as habitat conservation and maintaining recreation areas and trails.
"This was my dream job," Huffman said. "This is what I wanted to do. I was connected through the forest service through the warrior transition program."
After years of serving in the Navy as a surface warfare officer, Huffman was let go by the same government she fought for.
"It doesn't seem like veterans are being considered," Huffman said. "That feels like we're unvalued, and that feels like a shot to us and our service and how we've already tried to protect this country."
Her story caught the attention of Hickenlooper's office, who invited Huffman to attend Tuesday's presidential address to Congress, where President Donald Trump celebrated the recent federal cuts.
"My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy, and we will restore true democracy to America again," Trump said during the joint session of Congress.
Trump says the cuts could bring down costs for Americans, but those cuts still include veterans, who make up 30% of the federal workforce. The president addressed those concerns last week, saying, "We take good care of our veterans, so we're watching that very carefully, and we hope it's going to be as small a number as possible, but we are having great success in slimming down our government."
While flight delays prevented Huffman from attending the speech in person, she still watched from home, and for now is still unsure of her next steps.
"I'm not somebody that feels like I can raise my voice very well, but I'm willing to do that on behalf of other people," Huffman said. "If one person gets their job back, or if one person gets an opportunity out of this, then, it makes the world of difference."
