Local federal workforce cuts worry Wenatchee retirees, residents

Several retired and current federal employees urged the Wenatchee City Council on May 15 to seek urgent action from state and federal officials after recent reduction-in-force steps and hiring freezes at USDA and Interior agencies that they said are harming local services and the regional economy.

The comments came during the public comment portion of the regular council meeting, when residents described staff cuts at the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) tree-fruit lab and other federal offices that serve North Central Washington.

"At this point, I'm sure you know, '38 employees of the Wenatchee National Forest were terminated. BLM lost a person. NRCS lost a person," said Russ Truman, who identified himself as a resident of East Wenatchee and a retired USDA Forest Service employee. He said agency funds are frozen and that contractors were unable to be paid. Truman asked the council to write to the county commission, the governor and the congressional delegation — including Rep. Newhouse — to demand that appropriated funds be released.

Suzanne Cable, a 30-year Forest Service retiree who said she was the forest-level program manager for recreation, trails and wilderness programs, said reduction-in-force plans were due to federal leadership that day and warned larger, statutory RIF actions were coming. "Reduction in force plans for every federal department and agency are due today," she told the council, and "agencies have 30 days to further refine their plans and to prepare for implementation."

Rick Edwards, another long-time resident and Forest Service retiree, emphasized the local agricultural research impact. He said the ARS component at the community's fruit-science lab had declined from about 25 to 14 employees and that roughly $350,000 a year is paid by ARS to Washington state for building occupancy. "When the spotted lanternfly finally shows up in the valley, if there's not some good IPM work done to figure out how to control it, we're in trouble," Edwards said.

Speakers asked the council to push for public disclosure of RIF plans and for consultation with local and state partners so communities can plan for decreased service levels. Some raised specific economic concerns: Truman said the Enchantments area had about 75,000 visitors last year and warned that reduced staffing could cut visitation and visitor services; Edwards said lost research capacity could delay pest and storage solutions critical to tree-fruit growers.

Council members did not take formal action on the comments during the meeting. Several speakers said they had emailed material to council staff and offered to work with the council on drafting letters.

The public comments section of the meeting gathered multiple witnesses representing local interests in federal land management and agricultural research; the council heard requests for outreach to county, state and federal elected officials and for public release of agency RIF plans.

The council's agenda proceeded after the comment period without a formal vote related to the federal workforce issue. Commenters said they would return or follow up with written materials and possible future agenda requests.