As a product of parents who met while working together for the Forest Service, all Neva Bentley has known in her life is the woods.
“It’s just been always what I thought I wanted to do,” Bentley said. “I don’t know that I questioned it or explored too many other things, because it just made sense. It just worked and I loved it, and have always loved it. And I can’t even really envision myself doing anything else.”
The 28-year-old grew up tromping around the forests of northern Michigan. After graduating with a degree in environmental science, Bentley made her way west to pursue a job at with the Bureau of Land Management for two years before transitioning to the Custer Gallatin National Forest Service in 2021.
She worked as a seasonal employee all those years, finding work in the off-season, eventually becoming a full-time soil science technician in May 2024. It’s a path many Forest Service professionals know well — working hard and biding their time until there’s an opening.
Through her use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), data analysis and on-the-ground information collection, Bentley helped track and map key wetlands in an effort to ensure a healthy watersheds. She was most recently assisting on a soil and water project in the Bozeman Fire Shed, which encompasses Hyalite Creek up to Cottonwood Ridge, and is where Bozeman gets most of its drinking water.
“Since I was a kid, I always just wanted to be in a job where I could make a direct impact, no matter how small — just like doing my small part to take care of the Earth,” Bentley said.
“I’m grieving the loss of the start of a career that I could see myself doing really long-term.”
Bentley’s job took her to many corners of the Custer Gallatin National Forest. She distinctly remembers a project in Cooke City, where she watched a moose in the distance while she collected data. She knew her work helped not only the people in her community, but also the animals and trees that call it home.
“I would want to invite anyone who is in Washington making these cuts to come out and see what we actually do, because they have this idea of government waste and taxpayer dollars wasted,” Bentley said. “I think that if they went out in the middle of this, they would maybe, hopefully think differently and also understand, like, how hard we work for the public interest.
“To be fired over saying that my job, that my performance, is not in the public interest, is such a slap in the face.”