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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum fired more than 2,000 employees across the Interior department in what's being called the Valentine's Day massacre. Nearly half of the terminated employees worked for the National Park Service, where the effects of the firings will be felt first by the public. The fired employees were in probationary periods, either new hires or veteran employees who had taken new positions within the past year.
The stories of fired park rangers started pouring in. Helen Dhue, a park guide at Palo Alto National Battlefield was in mid-air on a work trip when she found out she had been fired. Brian Gibbs, an educator at Effigy Mounds National Monument, was locked out of his email before he even got a formal termination letter.
“Firing the next generation of America’s park rangers, scientists, and land managers is a recipe for literal disaster,” said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities. “I don’t know whether we’ll see overflowing latrines, polluted streams, or deadly wildfires first, but Doug Burgum is already leaving a path of destruction across America’s parks and public lands.”
The firings weren't limited to the Park Service. National Parks Traveler reported that Jacob B., who was fired from his position an attorney at the Interior department, worked with judges to deal with grazing cases, royalty disputes, and mining violations.
"The politically motivated and illegal terminations within the Depatment of Interior, and specifically my office, is a direct assault on the statutory rights of private citizens to receive hearings and present appeals of federal agency decisions," he wrote on LinkedIn. "This includes ranchers who raise our country's food supply, natural resource companies who provide power and jobs, and private citizens who recreate and hunt our public lands."
Forest Service layoffs increase wildfire risk
The U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the Department of Agriculture, fired 3,400 employees last week—roughly 10 percent of the agency. The terminations follow a spending freeze that interrupted work to reduce wildfire risk—during the narrow window when many prescribed burns can happen safely. “We will be more vulnerable to a catastrophic fire in the future as a result of not being able to do the prescribed burns,” one federal firefighter told ProPublica.
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You're losing people that are keeping the bathrooms clean, the trails maintained. You're losing people who are teaching youth the value of protecting and preserving these places for current and future generations.”
