Federal layoffs affect national park, tribal university and more in New Mexico

Guided tours at Carlsbad Caverns National Park have been suspended, an Albuquerque-based tribal college has no tutors left and veterans could face paperwork delays after President Donald Trump dramatically cut the federal workforce.

As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cuts large swathes of the federal government, the fallout is just beginning to be felt in New Mexico, where federal employees make up anywhere from 3% to 5% of the workforce, depending on which government agency you ask. According to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, as of December 2024, there were 29,600 federal employees in the state of the 898,600 non-farmworkers, but a cross-analysis of the American Community Survey and current employment statistics by the Economic Policy Institute found that there are closer to 44,000 federal government employees living in New Mexico as of Feb. 18. With much of the federal government allowed to remote work until recent months, the true number of federal employees living in any state has been harder to gage, though that seems to be rapidly changing under the new administration, which required all federal workers back in the office within days of taking over. Plus, seasonal workers are also hard to count and many in New Mexico working in the forests and parks are typically seasonal workers.

More federal layoffs are likely coming. On Saturday, Musk said in a social media post that federal employees will get an email asking them to explain what they did in the previous work week, and “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”

Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the agency to cut its budget by 8%, which could include layoffs of uniformed and civilian employees. As part of that budget cut, the Pentagon is planning to fire 5,400 employees starting this week, according to an announcement Friday. DOD budget cuts are expected to affect military institutions in New Mexico, according to Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

“We — 377th Airbase Wing — are fully executing and implementing all directives outlined in the executive orders issued by the president, ensuring they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives,” said Lt. Daniel Fernandez, a Kirtland Air Force Base public information officer.

This past week, rumors abounded. The truth was harder to discern given the atmosphere of fear and promises of retribution. Many current and former federal employees the Journal spoke with said they were instructed not to speak to the media, or had signed non-disclosure agreements. Indeed, if anyone can confirm information about layoffs, please see the bottom of this story, and contact us.

After speaking to more than two dozen current and laid-off federal employees in New Mexico, here’s what we know:

National parks and monuments

More than half of Carlsbad Caverns National Park’s seasonal staff were laid off, according to a former employee to whom we granted anonymity for fears of retribution, and the park may have to close a few days a week. Guided tours have been suspended for a minimum of 30 days after the federal government laid off 14 out of 25 interpreter rangers, but more likely that will be indefinite, according to the worker.

“They were talking about having to possibly close a couple of days a week, so closing the gate, so nobody can get in,” the former Carlsbad employee told the Journal. “We are already short on law enforcement officers. We had a bunch retire in October, and so we have had one on duty for the last four months.”

A call to the Carlsbad Caverns office confirmed guided tours had been suspended for 30 days due to staffing, and the employee could not say if the tours would be available by summer. Visitors can still do self-guided tours. The national press office did not respond to an email seeking information about layoffs at parks in New Mexico.

Calls to more than a dozen national park offices in New Mexico were answered by employees this week, most not willing to discuss layoffs. One employee, when asked about possible cuts, replied, “I appreciate that, but I would like to keep my job.”

Late Friday, the National Park Service announced it would hire back 50 maintenance staff across the country, and beef up its seasonal hiring from 5,000 to 7,700 positions to help stem concerns, and outrage, over the cuts, though it was unclear immediately how this move would affect New Mexico’s parks and monuments.

One employee and a volunteer at separate offices confirmed cuts had been made of probationary employees at the Aztec Ruins National Monument and Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The employee, who worked at a separate office, said at Chaco Canyon at least one maintenance person and two people on the preservation crew who provide upkeep to the ancient dwellings had been let go.

“The thousand-year-old buildings, yes, those guys,” the employee said, adding that the cuts were “definitely” made because they were probationary and will “definitely affect their operations” at Chaco.

Denise Robertson, superintendent for Aztec Ruins National Monument and Chaco Culture National Historical Site, said no such cuts had been made.

“Not at the current time,” she said. When asked about the information given by employees at separate offices that these cuts had indeed been made, Robertson said: “I am saying that’s incorrect and I am the park superintendent.”

Native American schools, health care

Twenty percent of the staff at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute were laid off last week, including the vice president of college operations. The Albuquerque-based tribal college has no tutors left, said Board of Regents member Raymond Gachupin of the Jemez Pueblo, and graduation is fast approaching in April. Tutoring is especially crucial because of the disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic created for many students, he said.

Some instructors were fired in the middle of teaching classes, he said. The college lost 31 staff members, including 17 who were fired and 14 who decided to take early retirement. The school is working with its educational partners to try to fill the need for tutoring temporarily, he said, but in the long term, the terminated positions will need to be filled.

Staff cuts threatened at Indian Health Services last week were halted, said Mescalero Apache President Thora Padilla, but she is worried it could only be a reprieve. The IHS Mescalero Service Unit only has one full-time medical provider, and close to a 50% vacancy rate. If probationary employees had been fired, seven of the service unit’s employees would have been cut, she said.

Approximately 950 IHS employees were terminated the Friday before last, but the new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy rescinded the layoffs, according to the National Council of Urban Indian Health.

National forests and U.S. Forest Service

About a quarter of the estimated staff of Carson National Forest was fired, while 40% of Gila National Forest staff were fired, according to several former employees. New Mexico has five national forests. The Forest Service national press office could not confirm a specific number of fired employees at the state level, but the Forest Service was the hardest hit agency for probationary cuts, losing 3,400 people in the past week.

“Released employees were probationary in status, many of whom were compensated by temporary (Inflation Reduction Act) funding,” a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson said.

On Thursday, Jordan, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her identity, was working on her résumé after being laid off from a national forest in New Mexico. She is concerned staffing cuts could undermine the Forest Service’s goals to conserve endangered species and do forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk.

“We already had missing positions that weren’t filled, that we were trying to get approved, and so it wasn’t like we were overstaffed or anything,” she said. “We were doing the jobs of like two to three people, some of us.”

Jordan grew up in New Mexico and long worked toward getting the qualifications needed for a job with the Forest Service. Her grandfather inspired her love of wildlife.

“Where I was currently working was in an area that my grandpa had previously hunted,” she said. “He has since passed away in 2013, so it was just really special to me to be working in this spot, knowing that I was helping the wildlife.”

Another laid-off Forest Service employee said she would have to pay $650 a month to keep her medical benefits and would likely be unable to see a health specialist she was regularly visiting.

“These billionaires who are running the government and making all of this happen have no idea how the agencies function on the ground,” she said.

One of the remaining Forest Service employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the layoffs have created extra strain for remaining staff. He expects the cuts to have a big impact in the summer season. He also expects to lose his job as cuts continue.

Conservation

The only qualified contaminant biologist monitoring for, and responding to, oil and hazardous material spills across the state for the New Mexico Ecological Services Office within the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife was also laid off.

Robert Prather was on call 24/7 to respond to oil and hazardous waste spills. He also assessed wildlife refuges and was the lead biologist for six different threatened and endangered fish species in New Mexico, making sure federal actions complied with the Endangered Species Act. Other people may have the capability to fill those roles, but likely not the capacity, he said.

“We were already down a number of biologists, and everyone’s plate, it was pretty much already full,” Prather said.

Prather only had three weeks left on his probationary period.

At least 35 Natural Resources Conservation Services staff members have been fired in New Mexico, according to Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. The NRCS helps farmers, ranchers and forest managers with financial and technical assistance.

“The soil and water districts in New Mexico, probably half of them are co-housed with USDA, with NRCS, and so we know very well that cutting the staff is going to hurt all of us,” said Debbie Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts at a Thursday news conference focused on federal funding freezes.

A USDA spokesperson did not have state-level data on layoffs. But U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins supports Trump’s efforts to “eliminate inefficiencies,” the spokesperson said, adding that Rollins is committed to “preserving essential safety positions and will ensure that critical services remain uninterrupted.”

Veterans Affairs

Zero employees at the New Mexico Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System were affected by nationwide layoffs, said VA spokeswoman Christe Lattimore-Staple.

While the VA hospital in Albuquerque escaped cuts, call center and administrative employees who helped veterans complete paperwork so they could get medical care were cut, which could create service backlogs, according to Stansbury.

The VA announced on Feb. 13 that it had fired 1,000 employees nationwide, which the agency said would save $98 million annually. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the saved funds would be redirected to be spent on veteran care.

“In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” Collins said in a statement.

Clovis resident Arielle Pines worked for the VA for 15 years before she was terminated as part of the mass layoffs, along with five of the 18 coworkers who were on her team at the Veterans Integrated Service Networks.

In November, Pines transferred from one VA office to another. She began working a remote job on information systems, helping input information to give employees access to different systems when they get promoted or change grade level. Her department also tracked the metrics of different services.

Taking on the new job gave her probationary status, despite her long tenure as a VA employee.

Pines had a personal connection to her work. Her husband and brother are active duty, and her father is a disabled, retired veteran. Pines has appealed her termination and is looking for a new job. She’ll try to find remote work or a DOD position.

“I’ve applied to unemployment through the state of New Mexico,” Pines said, “hoping that can somehow at least help our family right now with our financial situation, until hopefully this hiring freeze is lifted.”

Any tips, please send to journal@abqjournal.com. Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com.