Editor’s note: The Plumas Sun maintains an editorial policy that bars the use of anonymous sources in its stories. We are waiving the policy for this story to protect the jobs of federal workers, who are threatened with termination for speaking with reporters.
Federal cuts in jobs, funding and entire government programs are creating chaos throughout the nation. In Plumas County, where 4% of the workforce is directly employed by the federal government, the majority of the effects so far have come in the form of anxiety over the future of jobs and programs that rely on federal funds, including firefighting, public and mental health programs and veterans’ services.
“People don’t know from one day to the next whether they will have a job,” said a local federal employee who requested anonymity.
“People don’t know from one day to the next whether they will have a job,”
Local federal worker
During President Donald Trump’s first 100 days, at least 121,000 federal workers have been fired or issued layoff notices by federal agencies. The cuts were leveled across at least 30 federal agencies, including education, health, energy, social security and veteran’s affairs.
Local jobs
Plumas County has been bracing for impacts of anticipated job loss since January 20. Ninety-percent of its land is in federal ownership, dominated by the U.S. Forest Service. Along with forest management, local Forest Service jobs include fire protection, campground and trail maintenance. Among the but less visible workers are biologists who survey butterflies and Baker’s cypress; recreation specialists who greet visitors in the field; and office workers who respond by telephone to the public’s questions. Nationally around 3,400 Forest Service employees have already been fired, about 8.7% of the agency’s workforce, according to a CNN poll.
A Plumas Forest official told The Plumas Sun the local employment situation is in constant flux. Projected staffing numbers are “extremely fluid,” said the official, who requested anonymity to protect their job. In February, between about 15 and 30 individuals on the Plumas and Lassen forests were given termination notices, some of which were later revoked. Their future remains unclear.
Lassen Volcanic National Park has lost one employee, according to documentation by Axios. Overall the National Park Service has lost 1,000 workers, about 4.6% of its workforce.
Other federal agencies active in Plumas County include the Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resource Conservation Service and Department of Veterans Affairs.
Local programs
Cuts in federal funding are also affecting several county departments. Plumas County Librarian Dora Mitchell reported the Trump administration has eliminated $15 million in funds to California, which will impact libraries statewide. Plumas County will see no immediate effects, she said, but the potential is on the horizon.
The literacy program may be affected. It has served many Plumas County residents over the years. Mitchell also mentioned the state program that funds braille and talking books, which provide services for visually impaired. It is vulnerable to federal funding cuts to California, she said.
“That’s a very sad thing to lose. It’s a pretty great program,” said Mitchell.
Although the impact of these federal funding cuts remain vague, for now “it’s business as usual,” Mitchell told the Plumas County Board of Supervisors April 8.
The Plumas County Public Health Department will also be hit by federal funding cutbacks, said Nicole Reinert, the department director. The changes will come in the form of non-renewal of four separate grants worth $1 million. Reinert expects them to be phased out. She had already been planning for this, so it’s “not a huge deal,” she told the supervisors.
Meanwhile, she is awaiting the governor’s proposed budget, scheduled for release May 14. It could include changes that would affect public health programs in Plumas County. Budget confirmation will take several months. For now, Reinert said, “the department is holding strong with a healthy reserve.”
The Mental Health Services Act, which supports a program funding wellness centers throughout the county, is also a target of federal funding cuts, said Supervisor Kevin Goss, board chair. The supervisors are scheduled to discuss closing the center in Quincy on May 6. Wellness centers in Chester and Portola are expected to remain open, he said.
It’s too soon to tell which other programs administered by the county behavioral health department might be affected, Goss added.
For Plumas County’s 500 or so veterans who access their benefits through the county office, cuts to the Veterans Affairs office will likely cause a reduction in services, said Bill Cook, the county director of veterans services who is about to retire. The administration has issued layoff notices to 7,000 department employees, a 14.5% reduction.
Like Forest Service employees, the 1,700 veterans who live here are anxious and nervous, said Cook.
Local school, roads
Meanwhile, in 2024, congress failed to reauthorized the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which for more than a century has compensated counties for tax revenue they can’t collect on federally-owned land. The loss will cost Plumas County around $3.4, which is typically divided between schools and roads.
“Everything is a gamble these days.”
Kevin Goss, Plumas County supervisor
Goss said he continues to hold hope for SRS or a new form of the program, “but everything is a gamble these days.”
Regional officials put pressure on Kiley
Elected officials and agency leaders from across the Sierra region have called on Congressman Kevin Kiley, representing District 3, to advocate for the reinstatement of federal funding for forest health and wildfire mitigation efforts. The group, which included representatives from the Town of Truckee, Nevada City, Grass Valley, and Town of Mammoth Lakes, urged Kiley to consider the severe public safety risks posed by the suspension of fire mitigation contracts and reduced Forest Service staffing, compounded by a lack of funding and a federal freeze.
“This is not the time to walk away from our forests,” said Courtney Henderson, former Truckee mayor and councilmember. “Our communities have stepped up with local funding and strategic partnerships. To achieve the scale and impact of forest resilience needed to protect against catastrophic wildfire, we need the federal government to uphold its responsibilities, too.”
Kiley acknowledged the need for fire prevention efforts. “I have conveyed to the administration that this funding must be protected, and that as we work to modernize government and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, we must maintain support for vital services like fire protection,” he said in a press release.