In a court filing this week, the Interior Department said it plans to fire some 2,050 employees, including 272 at the National Park Service (NPS), 335 at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 143 from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and 474 at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The revelation comes as part of a broader case fighting the Trump administration’s plans for mass layoffs during the federal government shutdown.
It’s not clear whether these are the only firings planned by the department. An earlier filing said that layoffs of employees not represented by unions “might be issued” during the ongoing shutdown.
Spokespeople for the department did not answer The Hill’s questions about whether additional layoffs will take place.
“Since the start of the current administration, with several court ordered pauses, the Department of the Interior has repeatedly reviewed and evaluated its current workforce and its Departmental needs,” said an email from an agency spokesperson.
The 2,050 layoffs that were disclosed include major cuts to several offices. Regional offices of the NPS will be particularly hard hit, with the Southeast Regional office slated to lose 69 employees, or about 31 percent of its staff.
The Northeast Regional Park Service Office will lose 63 employees, some 28 percent of its staff.
The Park Service’s Pacific West Regional Office will lose 57 people, approximately 29 percent of its staff.
“These regional offices are the places where you provide the consistent operational support for these park units,” said Laura Daniel-Davis, who served as the department’s acting No. 2 during the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, in the USGS, the Interior Department’s science arm, several research centers could face deep cuts.
Two separate sets of employees listed as being under the Midcontinent region are facing reductions. One set of cuts where 108 of 137 staffers will be eliminated is described as pertaining to the Great Lakes Science Center, which helps understand the lakes’ ecosystem and environmental threats.
A second set of 28 staff cuts also listed for the region office is described as pertaining to the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, which studies the Great Plains.
Other USGS Science offices face cuts as well: the Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado, which studies a variety of topics ranging from wildlife to energy development, and the Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri, which provides information used to address environmental contamination.
Read more at TheHill.com.
