Fired Los Padres National Forest Worker Faces Off with Elon Musk

Wildlife Biologist Benjamin Vizzachero Capitalizes on Rare Opportunity to Confront Billionaire Whose Self-Proclaimed Pursuit of ‘Efficiency’ Cost Him His Job

Benjamin Vizzachero, a former wildlife biologist for Los Padres National Forest, lost his job in February as part of the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce. | Credit: Courtesy

Last week, wildlife biologist Benjamin Vizzachero found himself face-to-face with Elon Musk, the president’s billionaire advisor to blame for his job loss at Los Padres National Forest. Musk, head honcho of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sat a few rows behind Vizzachero at the president’s congressional address.

The 30-year-old wildlife biologist was invited to Washington, D.C., by Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) to share his story. After losing his position, Vizzachero had immediately gone public, becoming a poster-child of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

During the address, he capitalized on the rare opportunity to confront the man whose self-proclaimed pursuit of “efficiency” cost him his job.

“I turned around and I said, ‘Hey, Mr. Musk, am I a waste?’” he recounted. “And he gets this smug smirk on his face and says, ‘What exactly is it that you do here?’”

Vizzachero took a breath and replied that he works to protect communities like Monterey from wildfire, preserve precious places like the Big Sur Coast, and “make sure that America stays beautiful.”

“And after some noise from the mostly Republican crowd around me, he said, ‘No, I don’t think we need you here.’ … And I said, ‘I love this country. Why are you destroying it?’”

Vizzachero’s heart was beating in his ears. The entire experience, including Trump’s State of the Union address, was a “f***ing ordeal, man,” he sighed. “It felt like getting kicked in the gut.”

When, during his address, Trump claimed that they are firing “lazy, wasteful bureaucrats,” it struck a chord with him.

“It’s just like, hey, he’s talking about me, right?” Vizzachero said. “You know, I’m not a lazy, wasteful bureaucrat. I worked very hard.”

His job at Los Padres was what he pictured himself doing since he was 5 years old.

“People might think that a biologist just spends all their time sniffing flowers and picking up frogs,” Vizzachero told the Independent over the phone, on the way home from another interview with the L.A. Times. “But when you’re on the clock, everything you do is tied to the Forest Service’s mission … to provide the country with timber, clean water, recreation, habitat for wildlife, and forage for cattle.”

The biologist’s role in all that, he added, is to make sure that they are able to fulfill those needs, while ensuring wildlife remains protected, the Forest Service follows the law, and harm to the forest ecosystem is minimized.

However, he was torn away from that responsibility in February, after working for the park for a little more than a year. Representatives from Los Padres National Forest have said that the number of personnel fired is confidential; but according to Vizzachero, at least four others have been let go, “possibly more.”

Vizzachero said he worries for the future of the nation’s natural spaces and resources following the sweeping cuts made to the U.S. Forest Service. | Credit: Courtesy

“The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest,” Deedra Fogle, director of USFS Human Resource Management, wrote in Vizzachero’s termination letter.

In total, roughly 3,400 U.S. Forest Service workers were fired as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. Within the National Park Service, about 1,700 jobs have been cut, targeting mostly newer employees in their probationary period.

When he was fired, Vizzachero was about to lead an effort to survey Los Padres for the critically endangered California spotted owl, highlighting fears around the loss of federal biologists who protect and monitor such vulnerable wildlife populations. For California especially, the cuts likewise raise concerns around wildfire mitigation — Vizzachero was in the middle of a half-written biological assessment for a fuel break project in Monterey, which he now expects will be delayed because of his sudden termination.

“This isn’t just a fight for some jobs,” he stressed. “This is the fight for the forest itself.”

His hardworking colleagues, he said, are “going through hell right now.”

“These are the people who make sure that hikers can safely walk our trails, who show people how beautiful these lands are and how much work it takes to keep them that way,” he continued. “But Trump and Musk will never understand what makes America beautiful…. This isn’t about efficiency. This is about maximizing corporate profit.”

Vizzachero wants his termination to be a call to action, and encourages people to reach out to their representatives and protest DOGE’s cuts. Alongside working with Panetta and his team, he has also met with Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal.

“I am deeply concerned about the recent mass layoffs of federal employees across various agencies, particularly concerns with the impacts to my constituents,” Carbajal said in a statement. “This includes Ben Vizzachero, a dedicated wildlife biologist at Los Padres National Forest, whom I met with recently. These layoffs and funding cuts jeopardize the professionals who are essential to preserving our public lands and ensuring the safety of visitors. These decisions should not be made without care, and I will continue to advocate for actions that protect the Central Coast and the hardworking employees who serve our communities.”

In terms of next steps, Vizzachero said he is lucky to be part of a federal workers union that’s now preparing legal action. While his termination letter claimed his firing was based on his performance, his first-year evaluation deemed he was “fully successful” in meeting his performance goals.

“It was really a slap to the face,” he said. “People were sad to see me go, and sad to be losing control of our workplace, our home, and to have our team suddenly ripped apart.”

As legal action unfolds, he is on the hunt for another job, all the while stewing over the future of the nation’s natural spaces. “This isn’t about politics,” he said. “People have to fight to protect our public lands from exploitation for corporate profits.”