In recent weeks, thousands of federal employees ranging from the National Park Service to the U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency amid a national push by the Trump administration .
But, recent polling shows that Western voters 鈥� both Democrat and Republican 鈥� overwhelmingly approve of these agencies and the work they do.
Released just this month, the gauges voter sentiment from Montana all the way to Arizona and New Mexico about environmental-adjacent issues.
Despite the recent mass firings, the agencies working on these issues are actually quite popular among a majority of voters 鈥� with the National Park Service boasting an 86% approval rate, closely followed by the U.S. Forest Service at 79% and 75% for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, respectively.
Rick Mossman is president of the . He was recently featured on 九色网鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Talk New Mexico, where he revealed 22 New Mexico Park Service employees lost their jobs from aggressive agency downsizing.
鈥淲hat's really sad is that on their firing letter, they were told that they had poor performance and their skills did not meet the needs of the job, which is very untrue,鈥� Mossman said.
More than 1,000 NPS employees , along with around 2,000 U.S. Forest Service employees.
Many of the cut positions included fresh hires and those placed on probationary periods from recent promotions.
Ren, who called into the program and gave only her first name, said her husband, who recently transitioned into a new role for the Carson National Forest, was originally on the chopping block because of his probationary status. Though, his termination was quickly rescinded because the Forest Service was able to vouch for his long tenure with the agency.
鈥淚t felt apocalyptic and it felt nuclear,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I just don't understand what threat America and our safety and our society was up against that required such a rapid, traumatic removal of federal employees whose work was not illegitimate.鈥�
Some agencies are starting to backtrack because of widespread criticism and pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups. , the White House restored around 50 National Park Service employees to collect fees and clean the parks and said they will hire nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers.
Slashing budgets, which the Trump administration has vowed to do, is also widely unpopular. In fact, three-quarters of surveyed voters 鈥� including more than 2-in-3 Republicans 鈥� oppose funding cuts for these agencies.
Overall, conserving public lands is increasingly important to Westerners. A vast majority say they are opposed to removing any kind of protections of public lands for drilling or mining.
While only 25% of New Mexicans are open to the idea, Trump has promised to 鈥�,鈥� and has of national monuments for future fossil fuel extraction possibilities.
National monuments are most commonly designated by the president under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The right-leaning Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 policy recommendation document for Trump's new term called for , arguing Congress rarely 鈥渁buses鈥� these powers.
Today, in the Western states is federally owned and managed.
