Threats, Assaults against Land Management Employees Increase

Threats and actual assaults against federal employees involved in land management increased substantially last year, especially among those working in rangelands and national forests, according to figures compiled and released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “Security is a rising concern for scientists and other specialists working in the remote Western outposts. Higher law enforcement costs are cannibalizing already thin refuge budgets; meaning that some refuges are effectively closed to better protect others,” the group said in a statement. Threats and attacks against Forest Service employees rose from 97 to 155, while at the Bureau of Land Management the increase was from 15 to 28...more