Enumclaw’s Forest Service office will be closing, and three staff members have already been fired, as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s myriad funding cuts across the federal government.

According to the nonprofit Washington Trails Association (WTA), the state’s largest volunteer trail maintenance group, thousands of full-time, seasonal, and temporary employees have been fired across the country. This includes rangers from Region 6, which controls Pacific Northwest forests from Washington to Oregon like the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests and Clearwater Wilderness right in the Plateau’s back yard.

The Seattle Times recently reported 81 “front line staffers like wilderness rangers and trail crews” that took care of these forests, considered some of Washington’s most popular destination for locals and tourists, were let go.

Even more locally, the Enumclaw Forest Service office lost three employees — fired during what’s been coined as the Valentine’s Day Massacre — including Cameron Schmidt and Alex Ross.

The reason? Officially, poor performance, but Schmidt and Ross strongly disagree with that determination.

“[My] performance evals were all fantastic. I’ve been doing my job, and doing it well,” Schmidt said. “It was not based on any in-person or even virtual assessment of performance. It was just blasted out to every probationary employee.”

Left at the Enumclaw Forest Service Office is one more trail ranger and two managers, according to the former employees. Attempts to contact current staff for comments were unsuccessful.

Both Schmidt and Ross worked for the Forest Service for years as trail rangers, first as seasonal employees and then, within the last year, as permanent staff. Their official job was to clear trails, oversee construction, and scout fires, but both said they went beyond their job description to keep local trails clean and safe.

“As much as we try to focus on what we were hired for… we still end up doing so much extra work to keep things from being buried in trash,” Ross said. “… There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to keep public land open to people, and public land is not getting any less popular.”

Schmidt and Ross were part of the Snoqualmie Ranger District, which cares for the 350,000-acre Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and its hundreds of recreational activities, including the campgrounds, trails, and the popular Evans Creek Off-Road Vehicle Park in Enumclaw’s backyard.

Without them, they fear that these recreational spots will dilapidate quickly with no one clearing trash, pumping bathrooms, or clearing trails.

“It’ll still be there, but it’s not going to be taken care of,” Schmidt said. “What you find is what you get.”

Exacerbating this issue, Ross added, is the closing of the Enumclaw Forest Service Station.

When the Forest Service does have volunteers to help Ross and Schmidt on the trails, they are able to check in at the Enumclaw office to get their gear and tools.

But when the office closes, everything will be moved up to North Bend, meaning volunteers will have more than an hour’s drive past Enumclaw and Greenwater and back to drop off equipment when the day is through.

Ross said this will discourage many people from volunteering to maintain local trails.

“Very untenable, especially with [Highway] 18 being under construction,” he continued.

The former trail ranger said he hopes hikers and campers will do their part and keep the forest clean.

“Do what you can out there,” Ross said. “Leave no trace.”

The Courier-Herald attempted to contact Snoqualmie Interim District Ranger Brian McNeil via the North Bend office, but did not immediately receive a return call.

At this time, it’s unclear when the Enumclaw Forest Service Office will close.

Rent for the office is estimated at $140,000 a year.