In the second episode of our Latino Forestry Workforce series, guest host Gaby Eseverri speaks with Manuel Machado, who is the Natural Resource Workforce Program Coordinator for the Oregon State University Extension Program. This episode was made possible with support from Rivershed SPC, and we are immensely grateful for their help in making this series happen. 

Manuel works with community-based organizations across the Pacific Northwest to develop bilingual learner-centric educational materials for H-2B and immigrant forestry sector workers, while developing programming that raises awareness of the labor-intensive forest workforce. His work aims to make this work safer and more equitable, particularly through engagement with the Latine forestry workforce in Oregon.

Gaby Eseverri is a journalist based in Missoula, Montana, and originally from Miami. In addition to print journalism, she also helps produce Glacier National Park’s Headwaters Podcast, which we highly recommend you check out. 

In this episode, Gaby and Manuel spoke about the Latine forestry workforce in the Pacific Northwest, including the workforce’s history, how H-2B and immigrant status contributes to a culture of exploitation rooted in a fear of deportation, as well as the nature of forestry and fire work. Gaby and Manuel also discuss the physical, economic and systemic risks faced by this workforce, and how the model and increasing demand for forest resilience work—which includes post-fire restoration, thinning/wildfire risk reduction, and other essential forestry tasks—relies heavily on often underpaid and easily-exploited H-2B and immigrant workers. 

Please note that we will be releasing a third and final episode on this topic in a few days. This final episode—also hosted by Gaby with guest Manuel— will be published in Spanish, and will focus more on the resources, training and educational materials Manuel has created and made available for the Latine workforce on Oregon and beyond. 

Another note: This episode was recorded in November 2025, just a few months after the incident in Washington State when two wildland firefighters were detained by Border Patrol on an active wildfire. More information about this incident can be found at the links below. 

https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/08/30/immigration-raid-at-washington-blaze-stokes-fear-in-wildfire-crews-nationwide

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-agents-arrest-fire-crew-members-washington-wildfire-rcna227797

A few highlights from the conversation (full transcript can be found here): 

“So a lot of the work that the Latine workforce is involved in what land management agencies refer to as forestry services. So this includes everything from planting work, hazardous fuels reduction work, tree thinning, forest restoration, pesticide application. Also, increasingly they’re doing more work in fire suppression. So working on the fire line, much of that labor intensive work.”

“Many of these contractors are based in Southern Oregon, and although they’re based here in Medford, in the Rogue Valley, and they travel all over the Pacific Northwest and the US, the workers themselves are brought primarily from Mexico and increasingly from Guatemala and Central America as h-2b visa workers. So the amount of h-2b visa workers is increasing.”

“The way the forest service handles contracting often awards the lowest bidder, and although this does ensure a lower price per acre, often means that the workers don’t get paid as much as I believe they deserve.”

“With undocumented workers, you know there’s that added layer of vulnerability, because they face deportation, and although they can change employers because they have specified documents which allow them that flexibility to change employers, if the employer, at any time, finds out that they are documented, they face that added risk of using that as a threat against them. Given the policies that we’re seeing, there’s likely to be an increase in labor violations and just less enforcement due to these policies we’re seeing under the Trump administration.”

“It’s really just an entire system that’s turned on them at a time when I think their work so important, right? They are literally the ones planting trees after fire, or the ones who are fighting fire, the ones who are implementing those treatments that reduce fire risk and restore our forests.”

“I think a good example (of something actionable) could be for firefighters. We often hear them advocating for better pay and working conditions…but it’s important for them to understand that, you know, if an increasing portion of the firefighting workforce is reliant on h-2b visa workers that don’t have the same rights, well, then what can they do to build solidarity with those H-2b visa workers? A rising tide will lift all boats, so they have to really consider all of these different segments of the workforce if they want to be more effective at actively bargaining for those working conditions and better pay.”

“So I always ask the workers themselves, what’s something that you would like the general public or policymakers or decision makers to know? What would you tell them, if you had the opportunity to speak with them? The most common responses that I’ve gotten is that they just want more for the important work that they do.”