BLM Fires 21-Year Veteran Whistleblower Instead of Addressing Illegal Grazing
Washington, DC – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has controversially dismissed a highly-respected range management veteran, Craig Hoover, who repeatedly reported illegal grazing in the Ely, Nevada, area. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has filed a challenge, charging that this discharge was illegal retaliation in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act.
In 2018, Hoover, a 21-year BLM veteran, reported numerous violations, including grazing trespass in areas outside of permits and in excess of permit limits, and stolen fencing materials. Instead of taking enforcement action, BLM’s Ely Field Office fired Mr. Hoover.
BLM cited two seemingly pretextual reasons for termination: a four-hour delay in locating one permittee’s paperwork and misplacing his ID badge for about five minutes in the Field Office’s breakroom. PEER is petitioning the federal Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to reinstate Mr. Hoover.
“In our more than 25-year history, we have never seen a termination based on flimsier grounds,” stated PEER Senior Counsel Peter Jenkins, noting Hoover's solid performance record. “It buggers the mind that BLM’s stated rationale was the real reason for this extreme action, strongly suggesting that it is a clumsy official effort to silence a squeaky wheel.”
Documents obtained by PEER suggest that BLM has ceased enforcement against illegal grazing, not just in Nevada but across the West. Under President Trump, BLM employees have been encouraged to wear “Vision Cards” depicting overgrazed rangeland.
These incidents stem from the same region as the infamous Bundy family stand-off over longstanding grazing trespass in 2014. The Bundy experience has increased professional pressure within BLM not to inflame ranchers and has heightened physical fear. A 2017 PEER survey of Western BLM staff revealed that 70% of respondents feel the Bundy episodes have made their jobs “more dangerous,” with many citing “threats to our safety due to resource management issues.”
“As Mr. Hoover’s case illustrates, in today’s BLM, range staff trying to do their jobs must cast a profile in courage,” Jenkins added. “As a consequence, America’s rangelands are deliberately left unprotected by the public agency charged with their stewardship.”
Before the MSPB, the agency must show both that the charges have merit and that the penalty is appropriate. MSPB can order reinstatement and back pay with interest. Additionally, if BLM managers are found to have violated the Whistleblower Protection Act, MSPB can direct that the responsible officials be subjected to discipline, including removal.
Originally Posted By PEER