A Kansas woman working with the U.S. Forest Service has lost her job as a result of President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate government inefficiencies.
Since 2022, Kaylee Fritchen has worked as a forestry technician in the Payette National Forest in Idaho. The job requires spending half the year – typically May through October – in the remote Idaho wilderness.
Fritchen spends the other half of the year in Kansas. She grew up in Manhattan and her partner is from Wichita.
Fritchen was in Manhattan on Feb. 14 when she learned that she had been terminated from her job, alongside dozens of her colleagues.
"More than anything, rather than sadness ... I think all of us are in the mind space, the headspace of: ‘How are we going to get our jobs back?’ " Fritchen said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the forest service, stated on Feb. 18 that it had “released” about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting forest service employees. Federal employees are often considered “probationary” in their first one to two years of work. The status confers fewer rights than other federal workers.
The AP reported the Trump administration has ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees.
“Secretary Rollins fully supports the President’s directive to improve government, eliminate inefficiencies, and strengthen USDA’s many services to the American people,” the statement said, referring to the USDA’s leader, Brooke Rollins.
The statement added that many of the terminated forest service employees were paid with temporary funds from the federal Inflation Reduction Act, passed by former President Joe Biden.
Growing into conservation
Fritchen grew up in Manhattan and attended Kansas State University for two years. She considered studying a variety of subjects, like anthropology, park management and conservation.
“I've always had a passion for the outdoors and people, and connecting people to place,” Fritchen said. “And I didn't know exactly what I wanted my degree to turn out to be, but I was a Kansas kid that just kind of wanted to get out and explore and see exactly what … she wanted her career to be.”
In 2019, Fritchen left school. She went to work with an AmeriCorps conservation program in Utah. After that, she joined her partner in Idaho, where he was employed by the forest service to maintain trails within the Payette National Forest. The trails are used by hikers, horseback riders and even businesses that offer guided wilderness tours or hunting experiences.
For two seasons, Fritchen volunteered alongside him. In 2022, the forest service offered to bring her on officially as a forest technician.
What is a forest technician?
Fritchen’s job is physically and mentally taxing.
For five to six months out of the year, she and a crew of other forest service workers are stationed in the Idaho backcountry – one of the most remote areas within the lower 48 states. There’s no cell service or internet; communication with family is done by letter.
“This is an area that we're actually flown into and dropped off for the five-month period,” Fritchen said.
Using the station as their home-base, she and other forest service workers head into the wilderness for 10 days at a time to maintain the trails – removing trees that have fallen over a trail or clearing other debris. The teams carry backpacks with their survival gear, while also lugging the axes and shovels needed to do the job.
“I can't even tell you, like, 60-pound backpack working in any kind of weather: rain, shine, sleet, snow, 100-plus degrees – and then you've got to compensate for all that manual labor with whatever food you can carry for 10 days at a time,” Fritchen said. “Everybody leaves skinny at the end of the season. You are always in caloric deficit.”
The job is seasonal: typically May through October. Some employees have to reapply to come back each summer. But in 2023, Fritchen achieved “permanent” seasonal status. That helped guarantee her job would be there the next summer.
A dream job is cut off
Shake-ups to the federal workforce began soon after Trump’s inauguration. On Jan. 28, Fritchen and millions of other federal workers received an email that offered eight months salary if they voluntarily left their job.
“I was not for a moment thinking about taking it,” Fritchen said. “I still want my job.”
Then, last week, national news outlets began reporting that the U.S. Forest Service would lay off thousands of employees. One to two days after that, on Feb.14, Fritchen received an email saying that she was terminated.
The letter said she was removed from her position as forestry technician effective immediately because her performance had not demonstrated that further employment would be in the public interest.
A 2024 evaluation Fritchen received for her performance at the U.S. Forest Service found she was “fully successful” at meeting the department’s standards.
“I know that this was not a personal attack on my performance or character,” Fritchen said. “I do have healthy relationships with my district ranger and supervisor, and they want me there.”
Meanwhile, Fritchen is re-evaluating the future of her career. She’s considering looking for work at private outfitting companies – essentially guides that lead visitors through wild areas.
“I'll do what I have to do until I can hopefully get my job back,” she said.
“I don't make a lot of money doing this job. It's not about the money,” said Fritchen, who earned a little more than $20,000 between May and November 2024. “Conserving these places for future use really connects people with nature, and that's what I'm passionate about.”
