(Reuters) – Some 2,300 people have been laid off at the U.S. Interior Department as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping government job cuts, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The Interior Department manages around 500 million acres of U.S. public lands, including its national parks, and also administers the country’s onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing programs – source of around a quarter of U.S. oil production.
One of the sources said the layoffs include around 800 people from the Bureau of Land Management, which manages millions of federally-owned acres for uses ranging from oil and gas development to timber harvesting, cultural preservation and recreation.
The sources asked not to be named in discussing the matter.
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump has said he hopes to maximize U.S. oil and gas production, which is already at record highs.
Trump has put billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in charge of cutting government spending and bureaucracy, triggering mass firings across agencies and departments.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici; Writing by Richard Valdmanis, editing by Deepa Babington)
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