'To Come Back on a Voluntary Basis'

'To come back on a voluntary basis'

MISSOULA — The U.S. Forest Service has a new message for the roughly 1,400 employees it pressured to retire early despite their qualifications to help fight wildfires: Please come back.

U.S. Interior Department Secretary tells Rep. Neguse he doesn’t know how many wildfire-certified ‘red card’ holders have left his agency

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Congress on Thursday that he doesn’t know how many wildfire-certified personnel have left his department as a result of the federal voluntary resignation program and mass firings. Burgum made the comments during a U.S. House Natural Resources Committee hearing while being questioned by Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colorado). “Do you know how many ‘red card’ holders left the Interior Department in the …