Noem in line to warp civil service, BLM

The Government Accountability Office documented more than 350 incidents of threats and assaults against federal land management employees during the Obama years but spurred by Donald Trump there have been many more culminating in an attack on the US Capitol. Not just the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and at least 15 other federal agencies also suffered hits to morale while in the clutches of the Trump Organization. 

A survey conducted by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) showed that during the Trump years the BLM was plagued by staff shortages, high turnover and partisan rancor. Civil service is on the ballot again as those of us who love the Earth fret the possibility that the unitary executive will not be a Democrat. Yes, Interior, the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Fish and Wildlife Service are within the Executive Branch and as Commander in Chief the president could simply order elements of the administrative state to stand down. 

South Dakota's Earth hating, compliant, infidelitous, jaded or all the above governor has been fingered for a having a fling with Trump henchman, Corey Lewandowski so she has hoed her way to the queue for a post within the Cabinet. To cover up her past criticisms of Trump she even deleted her old twitter feed so the Bureau of Land Management is probably in her sights.

That means the Interior Department — a vast agency that oversees public lands, the national parks, Western water conservation and endangered species protections — is sure to witness drastic policy shifts if Trump reclaims the White House in January. Arguably, the most significant Interior workforce change during the Trump years was the relocation of the Bureau of Land Management’s national headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado. The Trump administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service moved to rewrite the ESA regulations that determine how critical habitat is defined and whether costs are tallied as part of a threatened or endangered listing decision. [Trump 2.0 would bring whiplash to Interior Department]

In a related story, a new study has revealed that heavy metals in the wildfire retardants that the Forest Service and other agencies use leach into waterways. One third of the Earth's tree species are at risk to extinction according to the United Nations.

Also, Mormons are splitting with Trump over his deportation rants.