Thousands Of CA Summer Campsites May Close Amid Trump Cuts: Report

CALIFORNIA — Californians may have to rethink their summer plans this year.

Thousands of campsites across the state could close for the summer as a result of 2,000 firings within the U.S. Forest Service, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The Times reviewed an internal Forest Service spreadsheet showing the potential closure of 4,000 campsites at California's 18 national forests.

The state's national forests offer affordable camping, off-roading, hiking and even permits for cattle grazing and gold mining from the hilltops of Big Bear Mountain to the shores of Lake Tahoe and amid the old growth towering giants of the Sequoia National Forest. Forest staff, who also conduct rescues and wildfire prevention operations, have been decimated by the Trump administration cutbacks. The memo offers the first concrete description of how those cutbacks will affect Californians.

The potential shutdowns are a response to the Trump administration's abrupt firing of federal workers in the Forest Service. Of the many federal agencies gutted by President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, the Forest Service and National Parks firings have prompted the most public outrage.

The thousands of forest and park service employees who were fired in February provided services such as maintaining and cleaning parks, unlocking bathrooms, preventing wildfires, staffing visitor education programs and conducting wildlife research. California is home to more national forests than any other state. Nearly 21 million acres of the Golden State are part of a national forest.

The status of forest workers has been mired in confusion since the February firings. Amid backlash, the president appeared to back off plans to sack thousands of seasonal employees in the in the National Park Service, but it's not clear if the Forest Service would be similarly spared.

According to the New York Times, a Feb. 18 Forest Service memo instructed supervisors in California to list public facilities that could be closed due to staffing shortages and budget cuts.

The email sent two weeks after DOGE fired 2,000 people noted that “unforeseen impacts and changed conditions, as well as financial limitations may render some sites unsafe, or too challenging to open to full capacity in 2025” the Times reported.

For many in the Golden State, the national forests are a place to build family memories and introduce city-dwelling children to nature.

California's National Forests include:

• Angeles National Forest
• Cleveland National Forest
• El Dorado National Forest
• Inyo National Forest
• Klamath National Forest
• Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
• Lassen National Forest
• Los Padres National Forest
• Mendocino National Forest
• Modoc National Forest
• Plumas National Forest
• San Bernardino National Forest
• Sequoia National Forest
• Shasta-Trinity National Forest
• Sierra National Forest
• Six Rivers National Forest
• Stanislaus National Forest
• Tahoe National Forest

Camping spots aren't the only forest facilities and activities facing cutbacks. Visitors centers, wildfire prevention, and permitting for mining, off-roading and firewood collection may be impacted as well.

At least three visitor centers in El Dorado National Forest, near the Lake Tahoe region, could close because of low staffing, according to the spreadsheet reviewed by the Times. Almost a dozen visitor centers in Lassen, Shasta Trinity, San Bernardino and Sequoia may also face closures.

In addition to the firings, it's not yet clear if the National Forest Service will be able to bring on the thousands of seasonal workers typically hired to help with the busy summer season. That raises major wildfire concerns in California where ongoing drought conditions and hot summer weather pose forest fire threats.

“With all these staff terminated out of nowhere, we can’t do the thinning and prescribed burns that keep forests healthy and keep fires from becoming catastrophic,” fired Forest Service staffer Joey Gallagher told the New York Times.

The Forest Service declined to respond to answer questions about the explosive report Wednesday.

“It would be inappropriate to speculate on potential impacts while we are still gathering information,” the agency said in an email to the San Francisco Chronicle. “The Forest Service remains committed to ensuring public health and safety while balancing access to recreation services and public access, which is vital to local economies. It is our intent to maintain access to recreation opportunities to the greatest degree possible.”

The Sierra Club sued Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency Wednesday, calling the national park and forest firings unlawful.

Signs of the cutbacks were felt almost immediately in California when Yosemite National Park delayed taking summer reservations for popular campsites.