Wondering what’s been happening with Nevada’s federal lands, given DOGE’s mass firings? Well, we’ve taken a lot of time to look into it—and we’re still wondering.
The Trump administration cut tens of thousands of jobs across the federal government in February, and reinstated many of them in March. On April 18, a federal judge ordered the administration to concede in writing that the reason it gave to 17,000 probationary workers for their terminations—their performance—was “a total sham.”
Meanwhile, the government appears to be doing its best to stymie communications on the matter. A few experts—two retired, and one who asked to remain anonymous—provided some perspective.
In April, the RN&R reached out to a Nevada Bureau of Land Management public information officer with a question: “How many Nevada BLM employees have been fired, and what changes might Northern Nevadans expect to see to recreation and/or land management this summer?”
A BLM spokesperson from Washington, D.C., replied with this statement: “The BLM is committed to upholding our mission of managing public lands for all Americans. The lands and trails we manage continue to remain open to the public, and we are hiring seasonal workers in support of our multiple use mission and public safety. The BLM is also working to ensure we are prioritizing fiscal responsibility for the American people, while ensuring the responsible stewardship of America’s natural and cultural resources.”
The spokesperson added that he would not be providing any additional information.
Media outlets everywhere have encountered similar vague answers from federal lands agencies. ProPublica’s Anjeanette Damon (who is based in Reno) reported in March: “A series of emails sent late last month to front-line staff at parks across the country provided rangers with instructions on how to describe the highly publicized staff cuts. Park leaders further instructed staff to avoid the word ‘fired’ and not blame closures on staffing levels.”
Dave Cooper is a Gerlach resident who formerly worked for the BLM as the manager of the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area. He has been retired for 16 years. He does not know exactly how many BLM employees have been fired this year, but he said any reduction would worsen longstanding shortages.
“The BLM has been understaffed and underfunded probably since its inception, back in 1946,” Cooper said. He attributes this at least partially to gaps in public perception about what federal lands are, and what the BLM does.
In Nevada, the BLM owns 48 million acres, about 63% of the state. Cooper listed some of the activities the bureau manages on this land: mining, grazing, wildlife, wild horses, recreation and cultural resources, consulting with tribes on projects that occur on public lands, and handling leasing for geothermal and solar power.
“Not just the BLM, but all of the land-management agencies have fewer employees now than they had 20 years ago … while the visitation to our public lands is increasing exponentially,” Cooper said. “It’s very difficult for the agencies to keep up with the onslaught of public use of the public lands. This is going to make it much worse, if they lose more employees.”
A source who is knowledgeable about Nevada and California land and trails management and still works in government—and who agreed to speak with the RN&R anonymously—said this: “I think we’re all on that same boat of not being able to find hard numbers on how many people have been fired. I think the only actual hard numbers I saw were for Great Basin National Park.”
James Woolsey is a former superintendent of Great Basin National Park. He retired in 2023 and still lives in Baker (population 16, as of 2023), the eastern Nevada town that serves as the gateway to the park, where he and his wife, Liz, own the Bristlecone General Store and the seven-unit Stargazer Inn.
“Great Basin National Park has about 23 to 25 permanent, full-time employees,” Woolsey said in a phone interview. Five were fired, he said. Several media outlets reported the same number.
“They’re the people who were cleaning toilets, who were giving tours, who were doing those basic chores,” said Woolsey. “If you take those out of the system abruptly like that, when it wasn’t planned, that’s going to impact having campgrounds open, because toilets are not being cleaned—or not giving cave tours at Lehman Caves, because they don’t have enough staff to do so.”
Lehman Caves is the extensive, tourist-dazzling cave system, packed with surreal formations, that is among the park’s crown jewels.
“The money that people pay to go on a cave tour is what funds the park rangers,” Woolsey said. “So letting those people go does not save the government any money whatsoever. It just reduces the services, to no effect.”
On March 13, a federal judge ordered various agencies to reinstate probationary employees who had been fired. At Great Basin, according to Woolsey, four of the five who were fired have returned. Still, he has two thoughts for those planning to visit the park—or any federally managed land—this summer. First, he had some advice.
“I would say plan your trips a little more carefully. Make sure that you have the details arranged, because things will be subject to change,” he said.
His second thought: “Our public lands belong to all of us, and we all should take a great interest in them. And I would hope that people would pay particular attention to what’s happening, not only in national parks, but (with lands run by the) Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. These places, I think, are popular with people of all political persuasions. … If there’s something that they don’t like that’s going on, they should contact their congressman or their senator.
“I think that national parks are popular across the political spectrum,” Woolsey reiterated. “And they make a lot of money for local communities. So I don’t think there’s anybody who wants national parks to do anything but succeed and run well, Republican or Democrat.”