Still Called to the Land: Outdoor Careers After Federal Layoffs

Outdoor Careers Following Federal Layoffs

In the wake of large-scale layoffs within the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, thousands of passionate professionals—rangers, trail crew members, ecologists, seasonal workers, fire staff—find themselves unmoored. For many, this isn’t just the loss of a job. It’s the interruption of a calling. A severance from landscapes they helped protect, trails they built, forests they walked daily, and ecosystems they understood like home.

But even in uncertainty, there is something unshakable: the pull of the land.

If you’re one of the many former federal employees—or if you’re just someone who’s always dreamed of working outdoors—there are still paths to purpose. The mission of conservation, education, and stewardship lives far beyond the bounds of bureaucracy. It’s alive in nonprofits, in tribal communities, in schools and farms, and in those who decide to build something new.

Here are career directions that keep you outside, on the land, and connected to what matters.

Private Conservation and Land Trusts

While federal agencies may be tightening budgets, many private and nonprofit conservation groups are doing the opposite. Land trusts, conservancies, and NGOs are increasingly hiring people with field experience—especially those who’ve worked on public lands.

Organizations like The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and hundreds of regional land trusts need professionals who understand habitat restoration, invasive species removal, prescribed burns, and mapping. These roles may include conservation easement management, public access planning, or boots-on-the-ground restoration projects.

Smaller land trusts especially value the versatile, get-it-done attitude that comes from seasonal federal work. If you’ve driven a rig, led crews, worked with volunteers, and navigated complex land ownerships—you’re the kind of person they need.

State and Tribal Land Management

Though the federal government gets the headlines, state and tribal agencies manage millions of acres of forests, wetlands, prairies, and parklands. Many state parks departments, Departments of Natural Resources (DNR), and wildlife agencies are not only still hiring—they’re actively expanding programs.

Similarly, tribal nations across the U.S. are exercising sovereignty in managing land, forests, and fire. Positions with tribal natural resources departments or tribal historic preservation offices are deeply connected to place and often grounded in cultural knowledge.

These roles may offer more long-term stability than seasonal federal work. And in many cases, the work is just as impactful—if not more so.

Outdoor Education and Guiding

If you’ve ever led a Junior Ranger program, walked visitors through a burn zone, or explained geology to tourists with wide eyes, you’re already an educator.

Outdoor education centers, wilderness schools, and experiential learning programs are always on the lookout for naturalists, instructors, and backcountry-savvy leaders. Wilderness therapy organizations, youth expeditions like NOLS or Outward Bound, and school-linked programs offer seasonal and full-time work.

There’s also guiding. Whether it’s rafting, hiking, climbing, hunting, or wildlife photography, many people have turned their federal know-how into small guiding operations—or found a place at established outfitters. It’s a different kind of public service: introducing people to wild places in ways that build respect and love for the outdoors.

Regenerative Agriculture and Land-Based Trades

Some people called to the land pivot from trails and trees to farms and soil.

Regenerative agriculture, silvopasture, native landscaping, and permaculture all offer careers that remain rooted in ecology. For those used to physical work, operating equipment, and working with the seasons, these roles can feel like a natural transition.

Others find a fit in land-based trades—like trail building with private contractors, ecological landscaping companies, wildland fire consulting, or native seed collection. Many of these industries are growing quickly and need people who aren’t afraid of the elements.

There’s no shortage of work for those willing to sweat and dig and plant. You might not wear the same uniform, but your labor still builds a better world.

Wildlife and Environmental Research

Plenty of wildlife biologists, hydrologists, and ecologists started out as federal field techs. If you’ve run transects, checked motion-triggered cameras, or hauled equipment through backcountry—your experience is valuable in research circles.

Universities, environmental consultancies, NGOs, and private firms all hire seasonal and project-based workers for field research. These might include fire ecology studies, migration tracking, habitat restoration projects, or water quality monitoring.

The pay can be variable, but the work is still rooted in science and discovery. Many of these roles also serve as stepping stones to permanent positions, graduate school, or higher-level conservation jobs.

Recreation and Rural Economic Development

With the outdoor recreation economy booming, there’s a growing ecosystem of jobs focused on building and maintaining access to the outdoors.

This includes trail development, bike parks, paddling infrastructure, community rec departments, tourism boards, and rural co-ops. Some people find themselves working for regional planning commissions, small towns developing their trail systems, or nonprofits focused on economic revitalization through nature.

It’s also where entrepreneurial people can thrive—especially in places near forests, rivers, or mountains. Starting a small gear shop, guiding outfit, hostel, or events-based business (like a race series or retreat) is hard work—but it can keep you immersed in your local landscape.

Start your own path

The outdoors has always attracted people who are independent, gritty, and mission-driven. That energy can be channeled into starting your own thing.

Maybe it’s a trail crew that contracts with land trusts. A conservation nonprofit that restores headwaters. A farm that trains veterans or teaches permaculture. A youth program for your hometown.

Federal work teaches you things: how to manage people in tough conditions, how to adapt, how to stay calm in chaos, how to read the land. Those are foundational skills. You’re not starting over—you’re building from a solid place.

Grants, partnerships, and grassroots support can help you get there. It might not be easy, but it’s yours.

How to Transition

If you’re wondering where to start, begin with your network. People in outdoor careers are often connected, and word of mouth travels far.

Look into AmeriCorps, conservation corps, and seasonal positions in the private sector. Check out certification programs: Wildland fire chainsaw qualifications, backcountry EMT training, rope access, ecological restoration certificates, or natural resource management courses.

Think about the parts of your job you loved most. Was it the solitude? The teaching? The crew camaraderie? The science? Let that help shape your next direction.

And don’t be afraid to grieve the loss. But don’t stay stuck there. The land still needs you.

Still Called to The Land

Losing a federal job in parks or forests can feel like losing a part of yourself. But remember: the mission never belonged to an agency. The mission is bigger than budgets or leadership changes or election cycles.

The land still needs stewards, still needs storytellers, still needs people who understand fire and water and soil and stone.

You were called to this for a reason. And no layoff can take that away.

The world is wide. The trail continues.

Keep walking.