DOGE website announced plans to terminate 17 leases for federal facilities in Colorado that support state wildfire efforts
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet and U.S. Representative Joe Neguse wrote a letter to acting administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) Stephen Ehikian requesting immediate clarification on recent announcements regarding leases for land management facilities in Colorado.
“There is significant uncertainty around the status of federal leases that are listed on the DOGE website, and if these leases have in fact been terminated. We are concerned by the lack of transparency in this decision-making process, and why certain federal facilities have been targeted for lease termination,” wrote the lawmakers.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website lists federal facilities targeted for cuts on their “Wall of Receipts.” This list includes proposed cuts to 17 land management facilities in Colorado with leases up for renewal in the coming year that the administration would let expire. Several facilities listed are U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior facilities that support wildfire resilience for the state.
In the letter, the lawmakers ask:
- What is the status of all U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior facility leases in Colorado?
- What criteria were utilized to determine which facility leases would be terminated across the United States?
- What is the timeline for these leases to be terminated?
- What impacts would terminating the leases for DOI and USFS facilities have on wildfire readiness and emergency response operations leading into the summer months?
- How will employees working at these facilities be reassigned to other locations, or will they be illegally terminated as a result of the lease termination?
Full text of the letter is available HERE and below:
Dear Acting Administrator Ehikian,
We write requesting immediate clarification regarding recent announcements from the Administration on the termination of nearly twenty facility leases in Colorado for federal land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service, many of which are integral to the federal government’s efforts to respond to wildfires and management of our public lands.
As you are aware, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has announced the cancellation of hundreds of leases managed by the General Services Administration (GSA) for federal buildings across the United States, including over 9.5 million square feet of office space in Colorado. This includes the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service facilities in Fort Collins, Bureau of Reclamation facilities in Durango and Boulder, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) facilities in Grand Junction, among others.
Colorado is home to twelve national forests and over 24 million acres of federal land across the state. Colorado and Western states continue to face the threat of devastating wildfire, and federal land management agencies support critical wildfire mitigation, suppression, and recovery efforts to maintain the health of our nation’s landscapes and reduce risk for our communities. As federal agencies, States, and local communities work to prepare for the summer months, where there is heightened wildfire risk, we are extremely concerned about the closure in particular of any U.S. Forest Service or Department of Interior (DOI) facilities in Colorado and the impact this would have on wildfire preparedness.
For example, the closure of the Supervisor’s Office of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest in Fort Collins could have immediate impacts on our communities’ ability to adequately prepare for and respond to wildfires, in addition to hindering research, public access, and wildfire mitigation work from taking place. This facility supports emergency operations during an active wildfire, including dispatch, incident command, and more. Closing this facility puts our communities at risk in the event of a catastrophic wildfire.
The state of Colorado is also a world-renowned hub for research and innovation, with many federal and non-federal partner institutions conducting critical work to support resource and national park protection, weather forecasting, public safety, disaster mitigation, and more. We are concerned about efforts to undermine the important work of federal land management agencies and the threat to public safety by terminating federal facility leases for land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service.
According to DOGE’s website, nearly twenty facility leases throughout Colorado have been cancelled, which host hundreds of federal employees.This includes the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland Supervisors Office and the National Park Service Natural Resources Stewardship and Science Office in Fort Collins, two USGS facilities in Boulder, a Bureau of Reclamation facility in Durango, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facilities in Grand Junction. Terminating these facility leases would be detrimental to our shared duty to responsibly manage our public lands, provide for the safety of visitors, and further critical science and research efforts.
There is significant uncertainty around the status of federal leases that are listed on the DOGE website, and if these leases have in fact been terminated. We are concerned by the lack of transparency in this decision-making process, and why certain federal facilities have been targeted for lease termination.
We therefore request immediate answers to the following questions:
- What is the status of all U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior facility leases in Colorado, including but not limited to the following offices:
- U.S. Forest Service facility at 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E in Fort Collins;
- National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife facility at 1201 Oakridge Drive in Fort Collins; and
- U.S. Geological Survey facilities at 3215 Marine Street and 4725 Nautilus Court in Boulder.
- What criteria were utilized to determine which facility leases would be terminated across the United States?
- What is the timeline for these leases to be terminated?
- What impacts would terminating the leases for DOI and USFS facilities have on wildfire readiness and emergency response operations leading into the summer months?
- How will employees working at these facilities be reassigned to other locations, or will they be illegally terminated as a result of the lease termination?
###