Forest Service lays off 360 Montana-based workers

In response to news this week that Montana’s largest land manager is laying off 360 Montana-based federal employees, a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service said Friday the agency is “confident that talented individuals” impacted by the staffing reduction will have “many opportunities to contribute to our economy and society in countless ways outside of government.”

The spokesperson, who asked to not be identified, went on to say that Brooke Rollins, who heads up the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, “fully supports President Trump’s directive to optimize government operations, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s ability to better serve American farmers, ranchers, loggers and the agriculture community.”

“We have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar is being spent as effectively as possible to serve the people, not the bureaucracy,” the statement continued.