The Agriculture Department has reassigned or detailed six state conservation chiefs after demanding faster spending despite deep staff cuts, The Washington Sun reports.
Citing seven people familiar with the changes and internal communications, the Sun says the moves followed a tense meeting in which Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Colton Buckley told state leaders to get funding out faster. Buckley yelled and cursed, according to two insiders, and one employee called him “verbally abusive.” He even reportedly brought forms to start reassignments or firings and said he’d sign them if funds didn’t move faster.
State conservationists told Buckley that repeated cuts under President Donald Trump left them with too few people to go faster. The Sun says NRCS has lost nearly 3,000 employees, about 24 percent of its workforce.
Buckley has started reassigning leaders in Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming and Illinois, per the reporting. He earlier forced out Texas’ head and detailed Florida’s, and Colorado’s conservationist moved to Texas. One employee called the shakeup “unprecedented in NRCS history.”
The changes haven’t been announced publicly, and employees said little notice or planning was given.
The Sun says Trump’s tax and spending law provided $33 billion for agricultural conservation programs, while farmers face tariffs and high war costs. Field employees told the paper offices have record funding but record-low staffing. Some offices have one conservationist open one day a week, and the Sun cites a committee finding that 141 counties had lost all NRCS staff by January. Employees said deadlines were shortened and that missing them brought discipline.
An agency partner said the ousted official was “just the most obvious person to throw under the bus.”