At least nine U.S. Forest Service employees in Petersburg lost their jobs over the weekend. That’s after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on February 11 directing the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to reduce the federal workforce.
Petersburg has around 3,300 residents, about 80 of which are federal employees. And around 60 of them work for the U.S. Forest Service. Long-time Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera says in a town that size, nine or ten lost jobs is enough to impact the economy.
“If you look at the number of people and the average wage, the spending power in the community goes down by just under a million dollars,” she said.
It’s possible the recently fired employees will find other jobs in Petersburg. There are lots to be had – with the borough, the hospital, the fishing industry. But Cabrera says the goal is not to simply replace jobs, it’s to have more people employed, and more money circulating in the community.
She says the Forest Service jobs also help add stability to Petersburg’s economy.
“That money comes in regardless of whether we had a good fishing season or not, right? So it’s independent of the factors that often drive our local economy,” she said. “And so losing that, you sort of are losing something that’s generally a solid source of spending in our town.”
Most of Petersburg’s fired federal workers were young people in the first couple years of employment with the Forest Service. Cabrera says that’s an added challenge. Southeast Alaska’s population is aging and communities are trying to figure out ways to keep younger people around.
“We’re always saying that we want to attract and keep young families, because that really invigorates a community in a lot of different ways,” she said. “They’re the ones that are usually buying the house, they’re putting their kids in school, they’re volunteering in different aspects of the community.”
Cabrera says if some young families do move away, the effects will go beyond the economy. She says that will affect what she calls the “human capital” of the town – the relationships the people have, the volunteering that they do, and all the ways those people make Petersburg the place it is.
