10/1/2025 Update: We are taking a conservative, safety-first approach and following our shutdown plan:
• TKO activities on Federal lands are considered “non-essential” and will pause during the shutdown.
•. Every 2 days to 1 week, staff and leads will cancel or reschedule Federal trail parties and Ambassador activities.
•. We’ll pivot to non-Federal projects (Oregon State Parks, local lands, etc.) and redirect volunteers accordingly.

Message from Steve Kruger, Executive Director, Trailkeepers of Oregon

Reflecting on the potential federal government shutdown, my mind turns immediately to the people behind our public lands: the dedicated agency staff. While most people see headlines about missed paychecks and closed government services, I can’t help but think about the crushing workload that awaits them when they are finally allowed to return to their posts. Every day lost isn’t just a paycheck deferred—it’s a backlog growing heavier. Trash piles up at trailheads, trail maintenance slips further behind, and rehabilitation projects are pushed off indefinitely. The anxiety they feel at home is not only about personal survival, but also about the places and people they have sworn to serve.

This reality resonates deeply with me. Early in my career, I served as a park ranger with Oregon State Parks during the recession years. Furloughs and hiring freezes were painful reminders of how fragile these systems are. Even under normal circumstances, agency staff walk away at the end of each day knowing only a fraction of the work got done. Volunteers often carry the rest. When those volunteers can’t step in, the work is simply deferred—left undone until resources appear, if they ever do. Those years impressed on me just how much strain public servants carry, often without recognition.

It was in part that tug on my heart that led me to leave Oregon State Parks in 2017 to lead Trailkeepers of Oregon. I believed, and still believe, that from the partner side I could make a bigger impact—helping relieve some of the burden born by our agency colleagues. I’m proud that TKO has been able to strengthen support for local and state lands, rallying volunteers to fill gaps and extend care where resources fall short. Yet when it comes to our federal partners, shutdowns tie all of our hands. In the event of a shutdown, we will have to cancel trail stewardship events because our activities are considered “non-essential,” with Forest Service staff telling us that even our volunteer crews can not proceed because no one will be available to authorize or coordinate our service work.

Stories will play out across the nation in National Parks, Forests, and Wildlife Refuges. With staff furloughed, community members may scramble to scrub restrooms, empty trash cans, and try to keep chaos at bay. They’ll do this out of love for the land and because their livelihoods depend on it—but they are shouldering responsibilities that should never fall entirely to volunteers. From enforcing park rules to managing safety, there are gaps that only trained agency staff can fill. Each day without them, conditions degrade further, and recovery will be slow and costly.

A shutdown isn’t an abstract policy debate for those of us in the field. It is a real disruption to the protection of our lands, to the experience of millions of visitors, and to the well-being of the public servants who have committed their lives to this work. Here in Oregon, it means trails go uncleared, projects stall, and volunteers who are eager to serve are sidelined. Across the country, it means local economies from gateway towns to guide services are strained as uncertainty ripples outward.

At Trailkeepers of Oregon, we know firsthand that people power—volunteers stepping up—is essential to keeping trails open and safe. But we also know it isn’t enough on its own. Public lands require the steady, skilled stewardship of agency staff, backed by stable funding and reliable governance. Without them, we are throwing gravel on an endless muddy patch that needs a real solution.

Our hope at TKO is that we can continue to be part of the solution—mobilizing communities to care for trails, advocating for the resources agencies need, and reminding policymakers that these lands are not abstract.

Steve Kruger, Executive Director