In a court filing this morning, the Interior department told a federal judge it intends to fire more than 2,000 government employees through a reduction in force, or RIF.
The RIF is partially blocked by a temporary restraining order in a case brought by several unions that represent government employees.
Judge Susan Illston ordered the Interior department and other federal agencies to reveal the scope of its planned RIF as it pertained to unionized employees. Today’s filing outlines where the 2,050 positions would be eliminated; the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, and the main Interior office would be especially hard hit. Regional offices with the National Park Service are also targeted for significant cuts.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“This plan would eviscerate the core science that every American depends on. USGS research underpins everything from American energy to insurance to transportation. The cuts that Secretary Burgum envisions would devastate scientific research across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Great Lakes. These layoffs, if they come to fruition, would also devastate the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, getting rid of the planning, construction, and regional offices that make our parks and public lands the envy of the world.
“Even more alarming is that Doug Burgum still won’t tell the American people how much more he plans to cut. Today’s filing is only a portion of the pain he’s trying to inflict on our parks and public lands. We don’t know how many non-union offices and positions are also on the chopping block. It’s incumbent on the courts and Congress to put a stop to this devastation and protect the park rangers, scientists, and land managers who study and care for America’s public lands.”
The office hardest hit by this plan based on percentages of current total workforce is the USGS Midcontinent Region office, which stands to lose 108 out of 137 employees, or 79 percent of its workforce. (This region includes the Great Lakes Science Center, focusing on the Great Lakes ecosystem and resources.) The USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri would be the second hardest hit. It stands to lose 80 out of 102 employees, or 78 percent of its workforce. The USGS Fort Collins Science Center is slated to lose 39 of 69 employees, or 56 percent.
The office that handles internal and external communications for the Interior department, including responding to journalists, could lose 129 of 443 employees, or 29 percent of its workforce.
BLM’s Colorado workforce could shrink by 16 percent, or 120 employees, with the BLM National Operation Center in Denver set to lose 87 employees and the BLM Colorado state office set to lose 33 employees.
Other offices targeted by the DOI RIF plan include:
BLM National Operations Center: 87 of 177 positions (46%)
NPS regional offices:
Southeast: 69 of 222 positions (31%)
Pacific West: 57 of 198 positions (29%)
Northeast: 63 of 224 positions (28%)
Regional Support: 18 of 86 positions (20%)
Denver Service Center: 40 of 224 positions (18%)
BLM state offices:
Utah: 93 of 783 (12%)
California: 76 of 838 (9%)
Arizona: 41 of 482 (9%)
Oregon/Washington: 95 of 1,493 (6%)
Idaho: 48 of 840 (6%)
Colorado: 33 of 595 (6%)
The main Interior office would also be hard hit by the RIF, cutting hundreds of positions across operations, Tribal support, grantmaking, energy, accounting, and customer service.