Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Inside Trump's plan to eviscerate USGS and beyond
------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
USGS water and fire technicians in New Mexico. Photo: USGS ([link removed])

Forced by a federal judge to partially reveal plans for firing federal employees ([link removed]) , the Trump administration on Monday said it plans to "imminently" terminate more than 2,000 employees ([link removed]) at the Interior department. The reduction in force, or RIF, is partially blocked by a temporary restraining order in a case ([link removed]ℴ_by=desc) brought by unions that represent government employees.

The Monday filing outlines where 2,050 positions would be eliminated; the U.S. Geological Survey, the 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.

“Even more alarming is that [Interior Secretary] Doug Burgum still won’t tell the American people how much more he plans to cut," said Jennifer Rokala ([link removed]) , executive director at the Center for Western Priorities. "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."

The RIF plan would eviscerate USGS regional science centers, terminating more than half of the workforce at the Great Lakes Science Center in Michigan, the Columbia Environmental Research Center in Missouri, and the Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado. Interior also plans major layoffs at NPS and BLM offices in Denver, as well as state BLM offices across the West.

Corner crossing war ends with a victory for public access

The years-long legal fight over "corner crossing" across the checkerboard of public lands in the West came to an end on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal ([link removed]) from a Wyoming rancher who tried to block hunters from accessing public land adjacent to his ranch. The hunters were acquitted of criminal trespass in 2022, and won a civil suit brought by rancher Fred Eshelman. Eshelman took his appeals all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case without comment.

The decision means that corner crossing is now legal on federal land in states covered by Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.


** Quick hits
------------------------------------------------------------

Interior aims to RIF at least 2,050 employees

Federal News Network ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | CPR News ([link removed]) | Axios ([link removed]) | GovExec ([link removed]) | NOTUS ([link removed]) | Barrons
([link removed]) | Roll Call ([link removed]) | High Country News ([link removed]) | Outside ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed])

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear corner crossing case

Wyoming Public Media ([link removed]) | WyoFile ([link removed]) | Cowboy State Daily ([link removed]) | Montana Free Press ([link removed]) | Public Domain ([link removed])

National park gateway communities lose millions each day during shutdown

USA Today ([link removed]) | CNN ([link removed])

Colorado plans for return of wild bison under new law

9News ([link removed])

On the Arizona Trail, a community steps in as fires blacken forests and force detours

Arizona Republic ([link removed])

Furloughed federal workers struggle, hang on, help one another

WyoFile ([link removed])

Study: Forest regeneration provides climate benefits, but won't offset fossil fuels

Phys.org ([link removed])

The dragonfly mating game has been upended, bringing repercussions up and down the food chain

CPR News ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
------------------------------------------------------------

”

There’s going to be bad actors who have their own intentions, who want to treat these public resources — like our public lands — as a private kingdom. But every time they do that, they are cutting against American tradition and history, and they’re going to lose and there’s going to be a way to beat them.”

—Ryan Semerad, attorney for four corner-crossing hunters, WyoFile ([link removed])


** Picture This
------------------------------------------------------------

@tombstone_statepark ([link removed])
When it's spooky season but you have a job.

============================================================
** Website ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** TikTok ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
Copyright © 2025 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.

Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])