The former deputy administrator in Florida Trail says

The National Scenic Trail in Florida is a beacon of the Sunshine State. It attracts 400,000 people annually, from Casual Walkers for an evening walk to die-hard Thru hikers, who wander from the key to the Panhandle.

Jenna Taylor spent years to cut his Cypress sill and build bridges over his muddy streams. In February she received a performance award for four months, while her supervisor, the administrator of the trail, was the task.

A week later, on the day of the President, she was released.

As a rehearsal employee, Taylor knew that they were “on the list” for nationwide cuts at federal authorities.

“Nevertheless, it was still very shocking, especially on a vacation, in the evening, to get such insensitive discharge,” she said.

The Florida Trail is one of 32 national landscape and historical ways that are managed by the federal government. The congress first encountered the importance of the trails in 1968, starting with the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. Stewart Udall, the US interior minister at the time of her federal name, described every national path as “a goal in the secret disks of nature” and “an entrance to our national character”.

The Florida Trail joined the ranks in 1983 and turned A floridian Dream of a local long -distance path into a well -preserved time capsule made of wild Florida.

Federal authorities and non-profit organizations that have financed many through state cost-shape programs keep the national hiking trails together.

Taylor is one of thousands of federal workers who have been released into the flood of budget cuts by the Ministry of Government Efficiency. A spokesman for the US Agriculture Ministry, who monitors the forestry service, confirmed 2,000 shots in an e -mail to View, but Frank Beum from the National Association of Forest Service Rentrees estimated the number to 3,400.

Taylor's departure leaves a federal administrator for the entire Florida Trail.

A way to the way

Taylor's love for nature was created from an earlier role as an American Director in Southeast Florida. She led students and her families to natural hikes and observed how many of them experience a path for the first time.

“It gave me a passion that I didn't know exactly that I had it,” she said.

Taylor joined the Florida Trail Association, the non -profit addition to the Federal Trail, in 2020. She spent four years to coordinate volunteer efforts in the central and southern sections of the hike, and started a partnership with her Alma Mater, Flagler College to introduce students to work.

She appreciated the memories that were made in the most remote and star-clammy corners of the trail: helping a student to take up his first tent and find a birthday enjoyment for a volunteer during a Backcountry trip. (She chose a roasted pineapple.)

When the position of the deputy administrator opened, “it felt like a really good fit.”

After Taylor had performed the position in March 2024, he received the permits for projects such as bridges and promenades, ensured that non -profit partners spent the federal dollar appropriately and negotiated with landowners.

In contrast to the Appalachian Trail, which is completely on the federal state, the Florida Trail leads through “a melting pot of the lands”, which is managed by state authorities, water management districts and private owners.

“If we have no agreement with the land manager at any time, you can tell us:” Thank you, but no “, and this part of the way would close, said Taylor.

It is just as important to protect the way as adjacent.

The Florida Trail comprises about 250 miles on backroads, state and US highways. Taylor worked on projects to reduce the routes that hikers have spent next to cars. An ongoing effort in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge will build promenades and a bridge and cut 20 miles of so -called “Roadwalk”.

Near the Eglin Air Force Base, a collaboration with the Florida Trail Association and Okaloosa County will build a bridge over the yellow river and turn the hike on the roadside into a target hiking area.

The projects are “probably one of the larger gaps I am concerned about,” said Taylor: “See that I was the main contact there.”

The Merit Systems Protection Board on Wednesday Order the USDA Use around 6,000 workers again while further investigating whether the shots were illegal. Taylor hadn't heard of her former employer until Thursday morning.

Even when employees are recharged, Taylor said: “I wonder how many really talented people have found other positions in their fields until then or were so burned and are so afraid that they don't want to come back.”

“An immense amount of experience, love and loyalty is lost,” she said.

Uncertainty

Volunteers dedicated over 32,000 hours of work to the Florida Trail last year.

They solved hurricane waste, mowing, installed promenades, recorded signs and carried out dozens of other activities that were necessary to protect and keep the trail accessible.

While their work was free, their tools and training were not.

“A significant amount of our company budget results from the forest service,” said Jane Pollack, Communication and Outreach Manager of the Florida Trail Association.

Last year, the US Forest Service of the Florida Trail Association provided 800,000 US dollars for construction, maintenance, acquisition and education. In return, volunteers delivered more than 1 million US dollars for the path.

While none has yet been frozen to finance the organization, Pollack keeps her breath.

“There are still many strangers,” said Pollack, “but we have heard rumors that it may reduce the financing of our budget.” All cuts in the organization would sail through trail crews, nature conservation efforts and construction projects.

If budget cuts enter into, “we would have to be forced to cancel voluntary programs that are essential for the open attitude of the Florida Trail,” said Pollack. It would be a devastating blow to follow users and volunteers: you want to give back the way, but without a way to do this.

Things such as bridge repairs or hiking scales require permits that volunteers can access on their own.

“The entire planning that goes into planning, [permitting] Must be carried out by someone who has the legal authority to make this planning, ”said Courtney Lyons-Garcia, managing director of the partnership for the National Trail System. “It is not just something that a random person can appear on a weekend.”

The other paths

Geminished partners made private investments of 15 million US dollars available to meet federal funds, and last year contributed volunteer work worth more than 28 million US dollars for the trails.

“This is a considerable value. Add to the American taxpayer comes with non-profit partners from trail partners,” said Lyons-Garcia.

Last week Lyons-Garcia and almost 100 others traveled to Washington DC to work for the protection and occupation for the hiking trails. The 28th year of the “Hike the Hill” event was of particular importance in view of the federal cuts.

“It felt more critical than ever to be terminated this Monday and know that they left the following Monday,” said Taylor, the former Florida Trail employee.

She sent her silently with confidence: “Yes, go fight.”