Fort Collins office among proposed Interior Department cuts

Colorado stands to lose almost 200 jobs in the U.S. Department of the Interior under plans revealed by the Trump administration Monday, including 39 positions at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Fort Collins Science Center.

The plans were revealed in a court filing in a federal lawsuit brought by labor unions. The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had brought the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, to stop the Trump administration from laying off thousands of union employees during the ongoing government shutdown.

A judge in the case last week issued a temporary restraining order blocking the administration from implementing most of the cuts, known as reductions in force.

In a declaration filed with the court Monday, Rachel Barra, chief human capital officer for the Interior Department, revealed the extent of the proposed Interior Department cuts, which total more than 2,000 nationwide. Proposed reductions in Colorado include:

• USGS Fort Collins Science Center, 39 of 69 positions.
• The Bureau of Land Management’s National Operations Center, Denver: 87 of 177 positions.
• BLM Colorado Office, 33 of 595 positions.
• National Park Service Denver Service Center, 40 of 224 positions.

The USGS’ Fort Collins Science Center provides scientific data and technical assistance to Interior Department bureaus and other natural resource agencies.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, criticized the layoffs.

“The Trump administration’s unlawful and politically motivated attacks on workers at our land management agencies — the BLM, USGS, and elsewhere — will inflict direct harm on both these civil servants and all Coloradans who treasure our lands and water. It is shameful,” Neguse said in a statement.

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