While giving individual park leaders some discretion makes sense to Frank Buono, he thinks more guardrails are needed to protect sensitive areas. “I would like to see a final rule really strengthened to protect the special places in the parks that could be harmed from inappropriate uses ...

Carolyn McConnell, a Seattle-based attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), filed a lawsuit on March 12 against the federal government, alleging that it unfairly punished her for First Amendment-protected activity she conducted during her free time. The suit was filed ...

A new emergency Freedom of Information Act request for communications among Noaa offices and Doge in part seeks to shine some light on those questions. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) request noted that privatization of the agency has long been a goal of the ...

“Some people are saying, [PFAS contamination] are isolated incidents. No, they’re not. I guarantee that this is a problem in every single state that uses biosolids,” said Kyla Bennett, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee who is now a science policy director for the ...

Kyla Bennett, director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the research office’s work is supposed to be uniquely protected from politics. It provides essential science, such as risk assessments for chemicals that pose health threats. The office, ...

It is unclear how many federal employees received the letter, which was first reported to POLITICO’s E&E News by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is advising more than 120 terminated staffers. A copy of the letter was shared with E&E News by PEER and a ...

Tim Whitehouse, executive director at another nonprofit group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said the organization has been in touch with hundreds of terminated employees who have been informed that they are being placed on administrative leave. “They are getting ...

Alsup used nearly the same language Thursday morning. Ahead of the hearing, the plaintiffs had sought an injunction against an expanded list of defendants that included all 23 federal agencies that dismissed probationary staff. Alsup applied his ruling to the departments of Veteran Affairs ...

McConnell told Law360 on Wednesday that while the events underlying her complaint arose under formerPresident Jos Biden, her censure hands “a dangerous weapon” to President Donald Trump and adviserElon Musk as they mount “shameful attacks on public servants.” “ ...

The 34 locations were part of a larger list of hundreds of federal properties the Trump administration is looking to give up or sell, The Washington Post reported. That includes nine visitor centers and visitor contact stations. Examples include the Klondike Gold Rush Historical Site ...

“These leaves were conducted indiscriminately and without any consideration of statutory requirements, or of the effect the firings would have on Americans,” Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said in an email. “It is ...

Les sciences de l’environnement et du climat sont logiquement ciblées. Kyla Bennett, scientifique de formation et ancienne cadre de l’Agence pour l’environnement (EPA), est la directrice de Peer, la seule ONG spécialisée dans la protection juridique des fonctionnaires d’agences ...

Trump’s latest executive order applies to more than the National Park Service. According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit watchdog organization, it also impacts the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which will now have just two people designated ...

And a 2023 Interior Department report, which emerged last year after the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility sued to obtain a redacted copy, depicted Haskell as “severely dysfunctional.” The report concluded, in part, that the university had been ...

Dr. Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy for the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, is a professional advocate for workers facing exactly this type of mistreatment. Bennett previously worked at the EPA as wetlands enforcement coordinator in New England and says she ...

According to documentation shared by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit watchdog organization, the Trump administration has suspended normal spending authority, travel approvals and credit card purchases nationwide as part of an executive order for “ ...

A report issued Tuesday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, targets Trump’s executive order, issued last week, that mostly addressed spending on federal contracts and grants, but also called for clamping down on travel expenses and other issues. Trump’s order ...

While the reinstatement of seasonal workers provides temporary relief, the long-term impact of the cuts remains uncertain. With visitor numbers continuing to rise and full-time staff dwindling, many park supporters worry that the nation’s treasured landscapes could suffer from neglect ...

“There’s no real staffing plan. It’s chaotic, and there’s no leadership from the secretary of the Interior,’’ said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Burgum “needs to step up and make sure these parks are ...

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Mitch Flanigan, a former ranger at Denali National Park, to talk about recent firings across Interior department agencies, including the National Park Service and the ...