"Federal firings expected to undermine oil and gas permitting"

"Loreena Genther worked nine seasons as an archaeologist for the US Bureau of Land Management high on the treeless plains of north-central Montana, waiting to be brought on permanently.

She got her big break last May when the BLM hired her as a full-time range technician, making sure ranchers were following grazing regulations and billing for grazing fees. The BLM promised she’d help out with archaeological work connected to nearby oil and gas development on federal lands around the small city of Havre, Mont.

“Part of their justifying my position was that I could do archaeological surveys, which to do any kind of pipeline right of way road access for oil and gas, you need archaeological clearance,” she said.

But on Feb. 18, three months before her probationary period was to end, Genther became one of thousands of employees fired in the Trump administration’s plan to slash the federal workforce."

Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment March 4, 2025. [2]