Nevada Current: Depth of federal worker firings unknown in Nevada, but impact already being felt

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By: Jeniffer Solis

The Great Basin National Park in rural White Pine County lost 20% of its staff on Valentine’s Day, when five recently hired park rangers were terminated as a result of the Trump administration’s mass firing campaign. (Photo: National Park Service/B. Mills)

On Valentine’s Day, at least five park rangers at the Great Basin National Park in Nevada were abruptly terminated after the Trump administration moved to fire nearly all recent hires across all federal agencies.

The full number of Nevadans who lost their jobs following the Trump administration’s order to terminate thousands of federal employees hired in the last two years has been kept from Congress and the public. But the impacts of the mass layoffs have already reached at least one of the state’s two national parks and the Nevadans who depend on them.

In an email, the Office of Personnel Management — the federal agency that oversees hiring and employee data collection — said the agency periodically updates data on employee terminations, but did not offer basic data on the number of federal employees terminated in Nevada.

Multiple employees who handled communications and public data requests for the Office of Personnel Management were also fired last week, making it unclear if the agency still has the capacity to track down and share termination data.

In the week following the mass termination of federal employees, Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen sent a series of letters to several federal agencies expressing their frustration at the lack of transparency on how many federal employees in Nevada have been fired. Both senators demanded termination data directly from the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, without success.

Past workforce data published by the Office of Personnel Management offers some clues as to the number of federal employees in Nevada vulnerable to termination. The number of federal employees categorized as recent hires in Nevada — the most at risk of termination — could be in the thousands, according to the latest federal workforce data maintained by the agency.

As of May 2024, there were 1,475 federal employees with less than one year on the job working in Nevada. Federal employees hired in the state over the past one to two years totaled 2,270.

According to the most recent federal workforce data, the Department of Veterans Affairs had the most federal employees with less than a year of service working in the state, with 655 recent hires.

The Department of the Interior — which manages about 80% of public land in Nevada — had 253 federal workers in the state with less than a year on the job, the second largest share. The Department of Agriculture had 91 Nevadans with less than a year in their roles.

‘We rely on this’

The Great Basin National Park in rural White Pine County lost 20% of its staff last week, when five recently hired park rangers were terminated as a result of the Trump administration’s mass firing campaign. The employees fired led tours, performed custodial work, and supported search and rescue operations.

That same weekend, the park cancelled tours for the Lehman Cave, a popular limestone formation that was even the backdrop of a 1965 film titled “The Wizard of Mars.” The park notified visitors on their website that tours of the cave would only be offered as staffing allows and on a walk-up basis. The park said existing tour reservations that could no longer be fulfilled would be refunded.

One park ranger caught in the mass firing last Friday said losing 20% of the Great Basin National Park’s staff could jeopardize visitor safety, adding that only one park ranger on the emergency search and rescue unit remained employed. 

The ranger, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation in future hiring decisions, also served on the search and rescue unit. He said he was training to be an emergency medical technician before he was terminated. 

“There is a lot of concern about the level of visitor services that we’re going to be able to offer now. My primary concern is visitor safety,” he said.

“You take a job with the Park Service for the love of the land, for the love of the people, and to help protect these places,” he continued.

The park ranger said he was one month away from completing his one year probationary period to become a permanent park ranger. Probationary employees, or workers with one to two years of service, don’t have the same job protections as those with longer government service careers. Probationary employees can also include employees who recently moved to a new agency, department or position and have been in their new role for one to two years.

“Being here almost a full year, I got a really deep connection with, not only the park, but the staff and the community,” the park ranger said. “I got really close and really tight with the community really fast. It was heart wrenching to lose that.”

“It was really sudden and jarring,” he continued.

James Woolsey, the former superintendent of the Great Basin National Park, said in his 32 years as a federal employee he’s never seen the mass termination of  employees like the one he’s witnessing now. 

“We have a very dedicated, talented workforce, and it’s not unusual for people to stay in their career,” said Woolsey, who retired last year. “Lots of my colleagues have had 30 year careers in the Park Service.”

Woolsey said he was puzzled by the Trump administration’s decision to target park rangers as a cost saving measure.

“I agree that we as a country should look at our budget, and that we’re spending too much,” Woolsey said. “But to just start cutting willy-nilly without even realizing what you’re cutting, and why, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”

Woolsey highlighted the Great Basin National Park’s Lehman Cave tours, which generate significant revenue through tour fees.

“If there’s no people to give the tours, then it’s not like the government’s even saving any money. Because now they’re not taking in money, and visitors don’t get to have a good experience in their national park because there’s no employees there,” Woolsey said.

Federal workers have also historically planted roots in the communities they serve, said Woolsey, including himself.

Liz Woolsey, the wife of the former Great Basin National Park superintendent, runs the Bristlecone General Store and Stargazer Inn near the Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nevada.

“I know it will definitely impact my business. We only have a handful of businesses in our small town, but we rely on this. This is how we stay open,” Liz Woolsey said.

“Right now it’s unknown what will be open this summer,” she continued. “Will there be tours? Which roads are going to be open? Which campgrounds are going to be open? If there’s not enough maintenance staff, will they be able to maintain the road or clean the bathrooms?”

Baker has about 130 residents and relies on the revenue created through tourism to the Lehman Caves and the Great Basin National Park. In 2023, park visitors spent about $15.4 million in surrounding communities. That spending supported 180 local jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $21.8 million in economic output, according to National Park Service data. 

“It practically pays itself back,” Liz Woolsey said.

In a small town, everyone knows everyone. On a personal level, Liz Woolsey said it was difficult to abruptly lose several members of the community in one fell swoop.

“These five people are so passionate about living here. They’ve all moved here for this job and are now local residents,” Liz Woolsey said. “They thought this was going to be the start of their Park Service career, and now they don’t have a job, or a place to live. It’s pretty devastating.”