LAS VEGAS (AP)-Opponents of the Trump administration’s plan to break up the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the public lands bureau are warning of a brain drain.
They say many Bureau of Land Management staffers who are being reassigned are opting to quit rather than move out West.
Opponents have projected that the number of staffers agreeing to move from headquarters could be as low as 15%.
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt defended the move Friday and said that was “not consistent with what I’ve seen.”
He didn’t immediately have firmer figures. He said at a conference in Las Vegas that the plan will work well, while some former employees say it will cripple the agency.
