it is going to be worse than we imagined and will take
a decade to recover - that is, unless, something
catastrophic happens that impact could have been
lessened if the NOAA staffings hadn't been disseminated
like they were today. But the orange golfing idiot and
his alien scrotum sidekick don't care.....
(link is posted but need subscription to read)
"National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
scientists and other employees in Seattle are among the
estimated 880 agency staff fired Thursday across the
U.S., according to Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office and
union representatives.
NOAA employs some 12,000 people. More than 700 of them
are based in Washington, according to Sen. Patty
Murray’s office. They are employed at NOAA Fisheries
and the National Weather Service in Seattle, among
other offices.
The scope of the cuts here are unclear; NOAA officials
have declined to respond to requests to detail the
scale of the layoffs. And on Thursday, a federal judge
in San Francisco found that the recent mass firings of
federal probationary employees that came from the
Office of Personnel Management were likely unlawful.
It’s unclear how that ruling would affect Thursday’s
firings.
Murray and Cantwell, both Washington Democrats were
among the critics of the cuts at NOAA, saying their
effects would be far-reaching.
“The firings jeopardize our ability to forecast and
respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes,
wildfires, and floods — putting communities in harm’s
way,” Cantwell said in a statement. “They also threaten
our maritime commerce and endanger 1.7 million jobs
that depend on commercial, recreational and tribal
fisheries, including thousands in the State of
Washington.”
Cantwell added the cuts would be a “direct hit” on the
economy because “NOAA’s specialized workforce provides
products and services that support more than a third of
the nation’s GDP.”
Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have
largely targeted probationary workers in federal
layoffs, which includes recent hires and those who have
been recently promoted. Federal workers across agencies
that serve the Pacific Northwest, from the Forest
Service to the Environmental Protection Agency, have
been let go in February.
NOAA was a specific target in Project 2025, a
conservative blueprint for the second Trump
administration. The document contained a call to “break
up NOAA,” criticizing the agency as “one of the main
drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”
The Office of Response and Restoration, tasked with
emergency responses including those for the Exxon
Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills, lost one of two
employees responsible for information security.
Gary Petersen, who was based in Seattle, was fired
Thursday afternoon by email. He worked as a contractor
for the agency from 2013 to 2018 and again in 2021
before being hired last year.
The email that that informed Petersen and at least two
others of their dismissal from NOAA said “you are not
fit for continued employment because your ability,
knowledge and/or skills do not fit the Agency’s current
needs.” The email was signed by a NOAA official.
When staff are responding to oil or other hazardous
waste spills, Petersen would make sure their computers
are secure.
There’s just one federal employee left in information
security in the Office of Response and Restoration,
Petersen said, who would not be able to manage all of
the work needed.
The Seattle NOAA office also includes the Emergency
Response Division. The division has also lost one
person who is based in Houston, said Carl Childs,
president of the Emergency Response Division chapter of
the International Federation of Professional and
Technical Engineers Local 8A. This is someone Childs
called “one of the world experts in petroleum
toxicology.”
It is unclear if the firings have affected the National
Weather Service office in Seattle.
“Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing
internal personnel and management matters. NOAA remains
dedicated to its mission, providing timely information,
research, and resources that serve the American public
and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic
resilience,” Susan Buchanan, a weather service
spokesperson, said in an email.
NOAA operations in Seattle include wide-ranging ocean
research. Scientists provide research to support
management of West Coast and Alaska groundfish and
salmon fisheries, and to inform the protection and
recovery of endangered species like southern resident
killer whales. The scientists look at how ecosystem
changes or fisheries management changes may impact West
Coast communities that rely on fishing.
Tressa Arbow, a 37-year-old communication specialist
was one of those who lost their job Thursday. She
worked in the National Marine Fisheries Service’s West
Coast Region office in Seattle.
Arbow is a former Peace Corps worker and teacher who
was still in her first year as a full-time employee and
thus on probationary status. She attended career fairs,
classrooms, and other venues, as well as teacher
trainings to distribute educational materials,
discussing topics like salmon restoration and
prevention of marine mammal harassment.
She also helped scientists hone their ability to
communicate their work to broader audiences.
Arbow, a West Seattle resident, who worked in
Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho, loved her
job. She began as a contractor in 2023.
“This job has meant so much to me. I have always wanted
to use my talents and skills to serve the country,”
Arbow said. “It’s been hugely special … I’m technically
new to this role. But I’m like mid-career.”
Arbow said NOAA is losing people “on both ends of the
spectrum. New people who have energy and excitement …
and then longer-term people who have institutional
knowledge.”
Nick Tolimieri, president of the fisheries chapter of
the International Federation of Professional and
Technical Engineers Local 8A, previously estimated
about 34 probationary employees at the Alaska and
Northwest fisheries science centers were at risk.
Tolimieri confirmed Thursday afternoon the firings had
begun, and said at least 12 people were fired in the
Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
The Alaska and Northwest Fisheries Science Centers
together employ about 600 non-supervisor employees
across all locations. The Northwest center has other
offices in Newport, Point Adams, Pasco and Manchester.
Alaska has additional facilities in Kodiak, Auke Bay
and Newport.
Probationary staff at the Alaska and Northwest science
centers include a range of fishery ecologists,
oceanographers and administrative and facilities hires.
They perform field surveys, stock assessments, work on
salmon restoration and study how changing climate and
other conditions will impact future fisheries.
“[We] are deeply concerned about our ability to
continue our mission of sustainable fisheries
management in the face of drastic cuts to the NOAA
Fisheries workforce and budget,” according to a letter
from the union signed by Tolimieri and submitted to the
Pacific Fishery Management Council Thursday before the
firings began.
“To continue our work to support you, to support
healthy and productive fisheries for years to come, we
need your help,” the letter stated. “We ask you to
sound the alarm about the consequences you and your
communities may face if we are prevented from
fulfilling our mission.”
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