Impending Trump Administration Staffing Reductions Threaten Future of National Park Service, Fish & Wildlife, and Land Management Agencies

Federal agencies responsible for the oversight of national parks, scientific research, and public lands are facing significant budget cuts, which are anticipated to lead to job losses across regions such as the West, Southeast, and Great Lakes, according to plans disclosed by the Trump administration.

This week, the Interior Department submitted a court document indicating their intention to dismiss approximately 2,050 staff members. This includes 272 individuals from the National Park Service (NPS), 335 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 143 from the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 474 from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

These job cuts are part of a larger legal battle against the Trump administration’s strategy for widespread layoffs during the federal government shutdown.

In a legal case initiated by employee unions, Rachel Borra, the Interior Chief Human Capital Officer, detailed the department’s intentions but mentioned that layoffs involving union-represented employees would be temporarily suspended.

The scope of the planned layoffs remains uncertain. Previous legal filings suggested that employees not covered by union representation “might be issued” layoff notices amidst the continuing shutdown.

Spokespeople for the department did not respond to 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,” an email from an agency spokesperson read.

“This includes examining efficiencies, reducing redundancies, as well as offering deferred retirement programs and exploring options related to reductions in force (RIFs). Any RIFs contemplated or planned by the Department predate the Congressional Democrats’ shutdown,” added the spokesperson, who responded from a general department press account that did not include their name.

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.

This office helps to manage 73 parks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Northeast Regional Park Service Office will lose 63 employees, some 28 percent of its staff. This office covers 83 sites in 13 states including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia.

The Park Service’s Pacific West Regional Office will lose 57 people, approximately 29 percent of its staff. This office covers 60 sites in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, Arizona, Montana, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

“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.

“From a management perspective, good management, good stewardship of taxpayer dollars — that’s what these regional offices do. They’re quite indispensable in terms of helping these parks stay consistent with program guidance,” she said.

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.

“These are the folks who provide that information that farmers need, that insurance companies need, that builders need. I mean, this is the science that underlies everything that happens in this country,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation and advocacy group. 

Both the NPS and the BLM, meanwhile, are losing staffers in coordination offices. The NPS Denver Service Center will lose 40 people, while the BLM’s National Operations Center will lose 87. 

“These are the folks who have skills that apply all across the agency,” Weiss said. “These are the folks who you bring in when you need landscape architects, when you need archeologists to come in. … Going after those positions will have the effect of making government less efficient.”

At the BLM, several state offices, including those supporting mining and oil and gas operations, will lose a number of staffers: The Utah office will lose 93, the Oregon/Washington office will lose 95, California will lose 76, Idaho will lose 48, Arizona will lose 41 and Colorado will lose 33.