- Nearly 350,000 federal employees were either laid off, quit or left their positions in 2025.
- In the West, about 6,500 public lands-related federal employees no longer have jobs
- Colorado lost the most with 1,753 followed by California with 1,540.
It’s no secret that the federal government laid off a large number of employees since Donald Trump began his second presidential term. When those are added together with the others who quit, took early retirement or otherwise left, it totals 348,219 people who are no longer part of the federal workforce.
That’s according to a Pew Research review published last month, which also found that 116,912 people were hired. When the two figures are combined, it’s less dramatic but it still represents a 10.3% reduction in total head count.
Pew also found that the added employees amount to a 55.6% decrease in new hires from the previous year.
To get a clearer view into what those big numbers mean for particular agencies and in specific places, Prospect Partners and Hawk Eye Strategies — two strategic advisory firms that leverage networks of public policy experts across the public and private sectors, Tribal networks and non-governmental organizations — dug into the staffing data published monthly by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
In a report published this week, the two groups pulled out how the reductions in staff affected public land agencies in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Nevada. While the report did not include Utah, the groups shared their findings on the state with Deseret News.
Across those seven Western states they found that the public lands workforce is down nearly 6,500 professionals. Colorado lost 1,753 jobs, the most in the country. It’s closely followed by California at 1,540. Utah’s numbers are more measured with a loss of 544 fewer federal public land employees.
In at least five counties in those states, there are no longer any federal public land employees.
The losses represent nearly a fifth of the West’s federal public land workforce. Those jobs were frontline staff from public land and rangeland management, rangeland conservation, wildfire safety and water resource planning.
Here are some of the report’s more specific findings for each state.
Arizona
Of the 679 positions lost in the state, the U.S. Forest Service is down 197 people, the National Park Service lost 163 and then the Bureau of Land Management lost 110.
Percentage wise, the 65 positions lost from the U.S. Geological Survey represent the largest reduction of a single agency at 25%. But it was the broader realm of recreation management where the state saw the greatest reductions in staff. It has some 50% fewer public-facing employees than last year.
California
There are some 1,540 fewer federal public land employees in California after 2025. The Forest Service had the largest reduction with 515. The Bureau of Reclamation lost 305, and the U.S. Geological Survey lost 220.
About a third of California’s reduction came from staff reassignments to headquarters in Washington D.C., moving them away from the land they manage to the Beltway. Another 17% were from entry level positions who generally form the basis of visitor services, field work and emergency operations.
Utah
The 544 fewer federal public land employees was the second smallest of the Western states in the report, but Utah still lost just shy of 20% of its total public land workforce. One county, Piute, no longer has any federal public land employees but there were three counties whose workforce grew by a person or two.
Salt Lake County lost the largest by volume with 183, and Weber is down 83. From a percentage standpoint, other than Piute, which lost 100%, Davis County lost 60% of its staff and Tooele lost 58%.
Colorado
Colorado lost the most public land employees of any state in the nation. Of those agencies, the Forest Service was again the hardest hit with 337 fewer workers. It was closely followed by 336 fewer BLM employees (a 36% reduction in staff), and 294 less at its 13 National Park Service sites. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement lost seven but that was 88% of its team.
Some 36% were entry level employees. While they are the least experienced, people in those positions are disproportionally represented in frontline work.
Montana
Montana’s federal public land workforce went down by 578 people overall, but it had five counties that saw employment growth. The Office of the Inspector General and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, however, each lost their only positions based in the state.
Again, the Forest Service lost the most workers with 267 fewer since 2024, while the park service went down 53. One county lost all of its public land agency positions, but the state now has 44% fewer environmental protection specialists overall.
New Mexico
Of the 855 total public land jobs lost in New Mexico, 481 were from the Forest Service. That 23% reduction makes it the state with the largest percentage change for its Forest Service staff. The BLM has 108 less people in the state and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has 78 fewer. But there were two counties that saw growth in their land-use agencies.
Of positions that are no longer filled, 34% were entry level. The wildlife management sector was most affected, losing 25% of its fish biologists and wildlife refuge managers and also 33% of its biological science technicians.
Nevada
Despite having the largest overall percentage of federal land within its borders, Nevada saw the smallest reductions in its workforce with 489 fewer jobs. Of those, the Bureau of Reclamation has 179 fewer employees than it did in 2024, and the BLM has 116 less.
Reassignments to headquarters on the East Coast and loss of frontline workers also affected the state, but it also had three counties whose public land workforce grew.