In mid-December, a wind event pushing 100-mph gusts toppled trees along the Northern Rocky Mountains from Marias Pass to Monida Pass.
The highway wrecks, downed powerlines and school roof damage have been repaired. But in national forests throughout Greater Yellowstone and beyond, a daunting to-do list has sprouted. And this year, much of it must be tackled by do-gooders instead of the usual federal maintenance workers.
“We’re concerned that every single trail in the A-B will have trees down,” said Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Foundation Executive Director Joe Josephson. “The snowmobile club in Stillwater County spent days just to get through the main Boulder Road. Think about what it must be like in the backcountry.”
The Red Lodge-based foundation has partnered with the Custer Gallatin National Forest for years to maintain trails, monitor wilderness characteristics and clear obstacles in the remote mountains north of Yellowstone National Park. Last year, many of the Forest Service employees who oversaw and teamed with the foundation’s volunteers were laid off or resigned as the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency eliminated an estimated 20 percent of its workforce between January and June. By the foundation’s count, 42 of those were stationed on the Custer Gallatin, leaving just five full-time Forest Service employees to manage 3.2 million acres of backcountry.
The Trump administration’s 2026 budget anticipated $783 million in cuts to the Forest Service, with an expectation that states would “assume a greater role in managing forest lands within their borders.” Congress appears poised to reject most of that plan. The current appropriations package awaiting a final vote in the Senate has $3.7 billion in non-wildland fire management funds, “providing sufficient funds to sustain appropriate staffing levels,” according to Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee.
Custer Gallatin National Forest officials declined to comment for this story.
Nevertheless, local groups are mobilizing this winter to get after backcountry tasks. Around Bozeman, Montana, the Friends of Hyalite has increased its annual snowplowing budget from $10,000 to $15,000 to keep the 17-mile Hyalite Canyon Road passable for ice climbers and backcountry skiers seeking the popular recreation area. The nonprofit is also moving $10,000 it had budgeted for a backcountry steward job and redirected it to equipment and maintenance expenses.
The stress extends beyond last year’s federal budget fights, however.
“These cuts in capacity and funding have been going on for decades with the Forest Service,” Josephson told Mountain Journal. “That’s important for people to understand. 2025 was bigger than most, but it’s been death by a thousand cuts for a long time.”
East of Grand Teton National Park, the Friends of the Bridger Teton have found their volunteer role growing in complexity. In addition to organizing work projects in the 3.4-million-acre Bridger Teton National Forest, the Jackson, Wyoming-based nonprofit manages administrative links between Wyoming state agencies and Forest Service programs.
“The grants and agreements process went sideways last year,” said FBT Executive Director Scott Kosiba. “Every agreement had to go to DOGE. We got a ton of money from the state, but had to return it because we couldn’t get the job codes to spend it.”
Kosiba told Mountain Journal Wyoming was prepared to contribute about $500,000 to the Forest Service for Bridger Teton trails work, but only about $100,000 of those awards have been processed. A motorized winter ambassador program that usually serves six ranger districts is only reaching two.
Last year, FBT privately raised $180,000 to fund a Forest Corps crew of five to work on 40 miles of trail in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, including parts of the Continental Divide Trail damaged by recent forest fires. The Wyoming Wilderness Association, Trout Unlimited, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and Grand Teton Association are also participating in the project. But the bottom line, Kosiba says, is that a lot less will get done.
“If you’re out recreating, recognize there’s greater responsibility to keep the place clean,” he said. “Take care of your safety. Be a good stakeholder of our public lands.”
