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With just one week to go until Bureau of Land Management employees officially decide whether or not they will relocate, the department is expected to lose a majority of those positions. Last month, the BLM notified 159 employees that their positions will be relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado or other state offices around the West. Employees were given 30 days to decide whether or not to relocate, setting a deadline of December 12. Although many have not yet officially decided, sources say that most positions will be left unfilled.
Senior officials are concerned about the loss of institutional knowledge at the department. "There's so many leaving, we're going to forget about what we did in the past and how we do it. They're all going to be new people," one official stated." For example, in one part of the Resources and Planning Department, a 20-person division may be left with no more than three employees.
Even with the deadline looming, staff changes will not be settled by next week. Some employees have asked for extensions, and others may accept the relocation to buy time while looking for other positions in Washington, D.C. With the chaos and confusion throughout the department, there will be significant effects to the department's ability to function both during and after the relocation.
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The Interior Department is meant to protect our nation’s public lands, not put money in the pockets of corrupt officials. This report shows how far this administration has strayed from that mission. Let's fix our broken political system.”
