Jacob Bushno, a southern Illinois native, entered the military not long after 9/11. He served in Iraq twice as a soldier and once as a contractor. Following his military service, he enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study forestry, following in his mom’s footsteps, who worked for the Shawnee National Forest since he was young. 

After he graduated in 2018, Bushno worked various federal jobs before he was hired by the Forest Service and assigned to the Shawnee National Forest just over a year ago. When he finally landed that job, he felt like he’d found his calling. But just one week shy of completing his one-year probationary period with the Forest Service, he received a phone call from his supervisor telling him he needed to come by the office to talk. That conversation dealt a major blow: he was informed the agency was letting him go due to poor performance. 

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“Which is completely unlawful,” he said. “It was a lie and illegal because I had an outstanding eval, and I had also got promoted twice in my first year.” 

As part of Trump’s directive to decrease federal spending, Bushno was one of 2,000 probationary employees within the U.S. Forest Service who were terminated in mid-February.

Bushno explained he struggles with some mental health issues including PTSD and depression, and the sudden termination hit him hard.

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“I was pretty tore up at first and I didn’t understand,” he said.

Bushno said he was distraught about losing his job and reached out to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost for help, as Bost is also a veteran and chairs the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs committee. He said Bost wasn’t helpful, so he also reached out to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who – although she was not able to get his job back immediately – connected him to major media outlets including the New York Times and Time Magazine to tell his story. 

A few weeks later, a federal judge out of San Francisco, responding to a lawsuit filed by multiple labor unions on behalf of federal workers who’d lost their jobs, ruled that the mass firings were unlawful and should be halted. Bushno said it was a relief to him and his colleagues. 

“They don’t think about the (father) that has a job with the Forest Service and his wife is at home pregnant and he loses the job and he loses insurance,” Bushno said. 

He returned to his job with the Shawnee National Forest on March 26, but Bushno said he still feels as though he’s not out of the woods yet, and could be fired anytime again.

After losing their legal battle, the Trump administration took other steps to reduce the federal workforce, including the Forest Service, resulting in waves of changes at national forests across the country.

Employees are now being offered a deferred resignation. This means workers can opt to part ways with the forest service, while being paid a full leave until Sept. 30. Bushno disclosed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Region 9, which covers national forest land across 20 states in the eastern U.S., including Illinois, has already lost 5,000 employees. Among the 5,000 are workers either retiring or taking the deferred resignation. 

“It’s affected all the way from the top to the bottom,” Bushno said. “It’s [been] a pretty eye-opening experience and as far as getting work done, it’s not going to be possible. You know, whatever our main focus is, if it’s timber… we’re going to have to do multiple jobs along with our personal jobs. It’s going to be pretty tough.” 

Recreation and tourism could decline

The Shawnee National Forest spans 289,000 acres across southern Illinois. Popular destinations  like Garden of the Gods, Little Grand Canyon and Pomona Natural Bridge are some of the most frequented in the Shawnee. Regular maintenance on these trails takes time — and manpower. 

Jean Sellar, the co-chair of the Conservation Committee at Illinois’ chapter of the Sierra Club and member of Shawnee National Forest Committee is concerned about the future of the Shawnee. The Sierra Club works closely with the Shawnee and encourages them to act in manners that benefit the forest’s health. 

“They were already understaffed. They already didn’t have enough people on board to carry out the needed maintenance and care and law enforcement and all of the other tasks that the national forest staff performs,” Sellar said. “And so losing additional employees, especially young ones with fresh ideas is really stupid. The trails won’t be managed as well, the law enforcement won’t be as available. There will be massive problems with invasive species.” 

Steve Ellis, who’s devoted his life to public lands, began his 38-year federal career in the Shawnee National Forest. Now retired and chair of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, he monitors news about America’s forests. 

“You don’t go in there with a wrecking ball, you do it more surgically, right?” Ellis said. “So I think the question to ask now is: Who’s going to run the place?…and I don’t have an answer…I think that’s a question to ask these people making these reductions.” 

The first half of Ellis’ career was spent in the field. Employees that are tasked with managing lands include the biologists, wildlife technicians and timber workers. Often, probationary employees or interns are actively maintaining sites. 

“The majority of the field work is done by the lower graded people and I know that because I was one,” Elllis said. 

A diminished workforce could ultimately affect the outlook of tourism.

“I don’t think the next couple of years are going to be good for our federal agencies as far as visitor numbers. I saw something last night on the news that worldwide tourism to America is down, like, 18% just for January, just within Trump administration,” said Charles Ruffner, a forestry professor at SIU. “If we build it, they will come, but if you destroy it, they’re not going to come and see that.” 

Concerns of increased and unethical logging

Some are concerned that tariffs placed on Canada’s lumber leave national forests susceptible to increased logging because of the need to make up for reductions in timber imports. However, Ruffner said harvesting timber, when done correctly, may be beneficial for the forest’s long-term health. 

“I honest to God think that much of our fire problem in this country is because we have locked up so much of our forests,” Ruffner said. “Cutting a few trees is going to be okay. It’ll grow back. It’s a natural resource, it’s sustainable. If it’s done sustainably, it could be a sustainable resource into the future.” 

If ethical logging is practiced, timber sales can also support the economy, he said, and enhanced recreational opportunities.  

Selective logging involves picking and choosing which trees to harvest instead of clearing out an entire zone of land. Ellis, the retired longtime Shawnee employee, also said logging is necessary to prevent fires and for the overall health of the forest. 

“There’s organizations that try to make you think that the biggest threat to old growth forests is a chainsaw and that’s just not, that’s not the facts, not the science,” Ellis said.

If unethical logging or clear cutting is practiced, large portions of the forest would be left in a state of devastation. This could pose a threat to the forests’ entire ecosystem. 

“I mean it starts erosion chains, it opens a pathway for invasive species. A lot of times they remove good hardwood timber that we really want to have in the forest that supports large numbers of plants and animals,” Sellar said.

Happening again 

During Teddy Roosevlet’s presidency, he set aside what we know today as our public lands — our national forests and our national parks. Upon forfeiting lands to railroads and industrialization, he saw the need to protect America’s land.

In 1982, then-President Ronald Reagan proposed a plan to reduce the federal deficit called “asset management.” In this plan he attempted to privatize and sell public lands to the highest bidder. As Trump attempts to reduce the national debt, concerns about the wellbeing and protection of America’s public lands grow stronger. 

“This is not the first time this stuff has come around,” Ellis said. “What put an end to asset management? Millions of Americans pushed back and said ‘No, you don’t.’” 

Millions of Americans have the freedom to enjoy our public lands. Unlike National Parks, forests like the Shawnee are one of the few public lands in this country where people can come and go as they please. Whether it’s hiking, biking, fishing, or just parking to take photos, no payment is necessary. 

“Today I can drive out to the Shawnee, park my car anywhere along the road and just go for a 10-mile hike if I want, camp there overnight if I need to. And nobody needs to know, nobody cares,” Ruffner said.

One frequent hiker and Carbonale native, Shawn Gossman, shares a deep-rooted value for the forest that lies right in southern Illinois’ back porch.

“The Shawnee National Forest to me is home and it saved my life. Before I got into the outdoors I was on a path of self-destruction,” Gossman said. 

Gossman participates in local volunteer groups like River to River Trail Society and Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau. These groups go out to highly traveled trails and clean up trash. 

“It’s gonna depend on volunteers more than anything now,” Gossman said. 

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