Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has decided to end a U.S. Forest Service work program that trains at-risk youth to be first responders to natural disasters, maintain national forests and work on rural infrastructure projects.
The program — known as the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers — is being transferred to the Labor Department.
As part of the move, it intends to close nine out of 25 centers, according to a statement today. The action could lead to significant cuts to the number of Forest Service employees.“There are reasons why the secretary made this decision,” U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen said during a conference call announcing the move to staff this morning, less than an hour before the Department of Labor’s press release. She said she only learned of the decision four days ago.
“Perdue has a goal of efficient and effective government,” Christiansen said, adding that the secretary also believes the mission of the program is better aligned to the Labor Department. The Forest Service’s Civilian Conservation Centers is the only Labor Department Jobs Corps initiative that is operated by federal employees.
“This was a high-level policy discussion and decision. It in no way reflects on your excellent work and dedication,” Christiansen said.
She didn’t disclose how many employees may be affected by change, which is expected to be completed by September.
Another Forest Service official on the conference call said the agency will be requesting authority for a reduction in force, which has to go through the Office of Personnel Management because of the size of the staff cuts.
The CCCs that are closing are located in states like Montana, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky and North Carolina.The Forest Service official said that agency will try to help employees find other jobs within the department and also push “voluntary separation incentives,” or buyouts.
The Labor Department said 16 of the 25 centers will be replaced by new contract operators or a partnership overseen by DOL. The announcement added that the “new operators will implement new policies and approaches that will offer students the skills they need to earn an independent living and succeed in meaningful in-demand jobs.”
The origins of the Civilian Conservation Corps date back to the Great Depression but was disbanded in World War II. The current iteration was designed during the Johnson administration as part of the New Deal’s Jobs Corps effort.
The Forest Service’s work program has been targeted by Republican lawmakers and in the White House’s annual budgets as being wasteful of taxpayer money with little accountability. However, the union that represents Forest Service employees argues the program has been a success and the administration is misrepresenting data to make its case in order to privatize the centers.
“They have no plan for the students, no idea how to stop the loss of 613,000 hours of student service, and are not concerned about the impact on rural jobs and local economies,” Beverly Tobin-Ford, the National Federation of Federal Employees Forest Service Council Vice President, said in April. “It’s as if this administration just decided to do this without reservation or any forethought.”
Daniel Lippman and Ian Kullgren contributed to this article.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine