Some Republican lawmakers, including two in Arkansas, have joined an effort to protest the Trump administration’s plan to close conservation job training programs, including one center in Arkansas.

The Trump administration proposes to lay off 1,100 federal workers and end training for thousands of underprivileged young people at Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers, including one at Combs in rural Franklin County. It provides free training in such skills as welding, carpentry and bricklaying. Students nationwide also are trained in firefighting, forestry and disaster recovery and often go to work in jobs on public lands.

Huffington Post reports that a bipartisan group of 51 members of Congress sent a letter to the administration Wednesday urging that the centers not be closed. The signers included U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, whose 4th District includes Franklin County. No other Arkansans signed the letter.


“These centers not only help support these underserved youth and young adults with invaluable job training, but they also provide essential capacity for the U.S. Forest Service to fulfill its mission and provide economic opportunities in rural areas,” the group wrote.

A call by a Montana Republican senator has already saved a center in that state and legislation has been introduced to preserve the others.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is often a defender of Trump and has been praised often by the White House. Perhaps he could put in a word for the workers and students in Cass.