A sweeping wave of federal firings has left thousands of workers without jobs. Ben Vizzachero, who worked as a federal biologist at Los Padres National Forest, was among those fired. He says the terminations pose serious consequences for wildlife protection and for public safety. Vizzachero joined host Lisa McRee on "LA Times Today" to talk about his experience. 

Vizzachero was involved in several areas in Los Padres National Forest. His work ensured the federal government followed the law and minimized its impact on the environment and local wildlife. Then, he got the call saying he was fired. 

"I was actually on a little weekend getaway for Valentine's Day with my girlfriend. When the whale watching boat was headed back to shore, I get a call from an 805 number and I knew I had to pick up. Once I heard my boss's voice, I already knew what he was going to say. I was fired," he said. "The letter said that it was [because] my performance wasn't adequate to justify my service to the people. But that's clearly ridiculous."

Vizzachero also explained the impact that the public will feel now that the Forest Service staff has been gutted. 

"Almost everyone at the Forest Service is involved in fire protection. The government already invested more than 100 hours training me to join the incident team, work with the firefighters, and I never got the chance to do that. I mean, talk about a waste. On top of that, we had all these restoration projects. Any time we're doing road work, keeping trails open," he said. "When you get to a trail and you see it's closed or you see the gate is locked, you should think about the people they're firing who keep those roads and trails open."

Elon Musk has spearheaded the mass firings of federal workers. Vizzachero got the chance to speak to Musk while attending President Trump's recent address to Congress.

"Sitting through Mr. Trump's speech was thoroughly depressing. Hearing him brag about firing wasteful bureaucrats, knowing he was talking about me, could not be further from the truth," said Vizzachero. "I know that my work matters because federal workers like me are the people that keep America beautiful," Vizzachero said. “[Musk’s] answer was along the lines of, 'I don't think we need you here.' Which shouldn't have surprised me, because billionaires like him only care about money, and I don't think that he's capable of understanding what makes our country's forests and parks so valuable. And that is their beauty. The beauty of wild places."

He also weighed in on the impacts our wild lands could face during the next four years. 

"There has already been damage done because me and my colleagues were the next generation. Twenty years from now, the experts are going to be retiring and there's going to be no one there to replace them because it's such a long process to train somebody to do what we do... Species like the California spotted owl are on the brink of extinction, and there will be multiple extinctions because of these cuts," Vizzachero said. 

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview.

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