For the second time in four decades, tribal nations and other advocates have successfully fought to keep a federal wildlife conservation office open on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Just months ago, employees were informed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lander Conservation Office was one of seven federal facilities in Wyoming that would be closed as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s downsizing efforts, which were then led by billionaire Elon Musk.
Subsequently, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and Shoshone and Arapaho Fish and Game Director Art Lawson urged the Trump administration to reverse course and save the office, which has been critical to the historic return of healthy wildlife populations on the Yellowstone-sized Wyoming reservation.
The lobbying proved effective.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the US General Services Administration recently notified the Lander office and the property owner via email that the federal government’s lease could continue at the site.
“It basically said, ‘Keep going with the current contract,'” said the source, who asked WyoFile to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions.
Fish and Wildlife Public Affairs officials could not be reached immediately for this story.
However, in an exchange with US Senator John Barrasso on June 11, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum confirmed the Lander office’s continued existence.
During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Burgum stated that the Lander, Wyoming office is crucial and will be adequately staffed to fulfill its responsibilities.
Federal employees, Burgum added, will continue to perform their duties in person at the office on 1st Street in downtown Lander.
Until they received word that they could stay, the Lander-based federal employees expected to lose their jobs next March.
The postponement of the Lander Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office’s closure marks the second time in 43 years that plans to close the facility have failed.
Back in 1982, the federal government attempted to close the office, but its founder, Richard Baldes, fought back and won.
“Only with tribal support,” Baldes told WyoFile last winter. “They received Wyoming congressional support [in 1982]. And the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the time supported this office and the National Wildlife Federation.”
It’s unclear what other federal offices in Wyoming that are DOGE’d have received word of a reversal of fortune, though the Dick Cheney Federal Building in Casper reportedly also came off the chopping block.
Federal agencies under the second Trump administration have frequently been prohibited from disclosing workforce and facility cuts to the public, and media inquiries have yielded no results.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Science Center in Cheyenne, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lander, the Social Security Administration facility in Rock Springs, the Mine Safety Health Administration Office in Green River, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration office in Cheyenne were all informed that they would be closing to save money.
