USHundreds of pages of records obtained by VTDigger reveal internal confusion in the U.S. Forest Service in Vermont during the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term, with federal cutbacks and budget slowdowns leaving research and conservation projects hanging in the balance. … Meanwhile, the Trump administration was urging the Forest Service to concentrate its focus on emergencies, to increase logging and mitigate wildfire. … A review of the Forest Service by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resulted in a nearly complete shutdown on spending, leaving routine purchases in limbo, the internal records show. …The report says the Forest Service lost over 5,000 workers nationwide in the first half of 2025, or 16% of its workforce, after mass layoffs in February 2025 and several rounds of the resignation program.