ASHEVILLE – Caroline Becker was on a list of probationary employees who would soon lose their job with the U.S. Forest Service. Becker, 23, who was employed as a GIS specialist at the agency’s Asheville headquarters, would have celebrated her one-year anniversary as a full-time employee on Feb. 25. Instead, Becker received a letter from Dedra Fogle, the U.S. Forest Service’s human resources director, notifying Becker of her termination. …“The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest,” Fogle wrote. …A program manager with the U.S. Forest Service who spoke to the Citizen Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from her employer, said the recent firings are a huge strain on the already understaffed agency and pose a major threat to the Helene recovery effort and future wildfire response.

Additional coverage from Colorado, Montana and Idaho: More than 150 Forest Service workers managing public land in Colorado lose jobs as part of Trump cuts – Several of the fired workers shared the Feb. 14 email from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that informed them they were being fired. The email said they were losing their jobs based on performance. One Forest Service worker told The Sun that neither they nor any of their fired colleagues had ever received any negative feedback on annual performance reviews.