Laid Off: Research Ecologist at the US Forest Service

"We believed that the work that we were doing as civil servants was for the public good and that its value transcended partisan politics."

Melanie Ehrenkranz

Feb 28, 2025

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In today’s issue, I talk to former environmental scientist for the US Forest Service Chelsea Andreozzi about:

Climate change information removed from government websites
What it’s like being laid off in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires
How she helped the federal government work better for its people

Thousands of US Forest Service employees were laid off this month as part of the Trump administration’s federal workforce downsizing plan. Those affected include forestry workers, firefighters, EMTs, rangers, and scientists. These are staff that helped maintain and protect our National Forests.

The layoffs targeted workers in probationary roles: people who were new or had recently moved to a new position.

Chelsea Andreozzi, 34, worked as a research ecologist for the US Forest Service for ten months. She was among those laid off on February 17th (President’s Day).

At the time, she and her fiancé were hosting friends for brunch. She had pulled out her phone to show them the type of wedding rings another friend would be crafting for them when she got a notice to check her email.

Standing in the kitchen with her fiancé and their three friends, she was abruptly and unceremoniously laid off.

“My friends found out seconds after I did,” she said. “I don't think I could have hid my shock.”

What was the first thing you did after receiving the news?

First, I finished eating. Then I excused myself to secure any personnel files related to the conditions of my employment and performance before I was locked out of my computer.

What reasoning did they give for laying you off?

I am just one of the thousands of federal workers abruptly laid off for no reason other than that they were in their "probationary period," meaning that they had not served the requisite time to be entitled to the full employment protections of other federal employees.

I already had a record of excellent performance in my role, and it was hard to imagine that my work to increase the resilience of natural lands and human communities to wildfire was not in the public interest. Also, the letter was so impersonal that my position was listed as "RES ECOLOGIST," confirming that whoever dredged my record from a database had no idea who I was or what role I played in the federal workforce.

How did they handle layoffs?

My supervisor had the difficult job of passing the letter onto me, so I at least had human contact before getting locked out of the computer system. Many other federal employees did not receive even that much courtesy. I almost wished that they hadn't because supervisors being forced to fire valuable team members that they mentored and supported is a whole other layer of heartbreak in these termination proceedings.

What would you say to someone who says that your work as a federal environmental scientist is not “in the public interest"?

I used my skills and expertise to help inform land management so that the US Forest Service could better prevent uncontrolled wildfires and protect communities. Part of our team's job was to assess how recent federal investments were contributing to ecological benefits and the stewardship of public values. This information was meant to help funding and management decisions be made more strategically. In short, we helped to make the federal government work better and more efficiently for its people.

You mentioned in your LinkedIn post that scientific resources and other public information are once again being taken down from government websites. Can you expand on which resources and the consequences of taking them down?

The scientific resources and other public information I observed being taken down from federal websites were primarily related to climate change. Denial of climate change is hampering the ability of farmers, natural resource managers, and communities in both rural and urban areas to adapt when informed action is more critical than ever before. People are noticing. Farmers are now actively suing the USDA for removing these resources.

The forest service layoffs made headlines. What was that like, to read about your layoffs in the news? Do you feel it captured your experience? What do you think is most missing from the narrative that you wish people would understand?

Much of the news and public outcry around the USDA and Department of Interior layoffs have been deeply moving. People love natural lands and the people who steward them. One thing that has not resonated with me is the portrayal of our federal workforce as mere victims. We are not powerless. We are passionate, informed, and connected. We believed that the work that we were doing as civil servants was for the public good and that its value transcended partisan politics. And we're not going to allow our narrative to be rewritten or forgotten.

You were working to make our nation’s natural lands and human communities more resilient to wildfire. That's been especially on people's minds over the last few weeks in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires. How does it feel to have these forest service cuts in the wake of the devastation in LA?

Given the devastation and enormous economic losses that the Los Angeles wildfires caused, it seems inconceivable that resources intended to prevent such tragedies from recurring in other communities would be so crudely cut. Anyone who lives in a community at-risk of wildfire has a right to be outraged by the current dismantlement of resources and efforts meant to protect them.

Have you been talking to your Forest Service peers who were also laid off?

We are sharing resources to help each other navigate a lot of employment uncertainty, including basic information related to actions to take after being abruptly and illegally terminated. The themes of the day are solidarity and support.

What about conversations with people still there? Do you have any sense of the vibe there right now post-layoffs?

People are scared about their own employment security. They feel harassed by faceless emails asking them to account for their work to unknown parties. It will take more courage to stay and continue to get the job done than it would to pivot to more self-serving employment.

It's important to remember that the federal layoffs are a concern far beyond partisan politics. We all need to do our part to spread awareness of the impacts on public values, whether it's calling Congressional representatives or having uncomfortable conversations across the dinner table. The time to act is now before it's too late to undo the damage.

Photos shared represent Chelsea's previous work as a field ecologist and are not of her recently terminated position as a federal employee.