Interior Department Plans Over 2,000 Federal Job Cuts, Targets National Park Service

The Interior Department disclosed plans to lay off about 2,050 employees across 89 units, targeting the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey and Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. The NPS would lose roughly 270 positions (about 2% of its workforce) while the BLM faces about 474 cuts (roughly 5%), and USGS and Fish and Wildlife would also suffer significant reductions; the department says the RIFs predate the shutdown and are part of workforce reviews. Colorado would be especially affected, with nearly 200 positions targeted, including 87 of 177 jobs at the BLM National Operations Center in Denver, 33 of 595 at the BLM Colorado State Office, 40 of 224 at the NPS Denver Service Center, and 39 of 69 at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center. A federal judge, Susan Illston, has temporarily blocked the reductions after unions sued, calling the administration’s attempt to fire line-level civilian employees during the shutdown unlawful and politically motivated. Advocates, lawmakers and unions warn the cuts would harm resource protection, maintenance and park services—already curtailed at places like Yosemite during the shutdown—and say the actions are punitive to career civil servants.