Federal employees overseeing U.S. public lands were assaulted or threatened at least 360 times over a five-year period marked by heightened tensions with anti-government groups, according a Congressional watchdog agency.
The Government Accountability Office in a new report highlights anti-government tensions that at times have boiled over. That includes the six-week armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016, and other standoffs with armed protesters in Montana and Nevada.
The Associated Press obtained GAO's report ahead of its scheduled Monday release.
FILE - In this Jan 8, 2016, file photo, Burns resident Steve Atkins, left, talks with Ammon Bundy, center, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, following a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore. Bundy’s family played central roles in a 2014 standoff over grazing fees in Nevada and the 2016 occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. (AP PhotoRick Bowmer, File)
It cataloged incidents ranging from threatening phone calls to the stabbing of a Bureau of Land Management worker outside a federal building. Some of the assaults triggered FBI domestic terrorism investigations, although the precise number was not disclosed because it is considered sensitive information.
The report did not say whether rates of assaults and threats were increasing. But it noted a dwindling number of federal officers patrolling the nation's vast forests, parks, wildlife refuges and other open spaces, which cover more than 670 million acres (1.1 million square miles) primarily in 12 western states.
There's been 19% drop in the ranks of officers at the U.S. Forest Service between 2013 and 2018, according to GAO. The Bureau of Land Management saw a 9% drop and now has one officer in the field for every 1.2 million acres (1,563-square miles) the agency oversees.
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2016, file photo, a man stands guard after several organizations arrived at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore. A new report from the Government Accountability Office highlights violence against public lands employees amid heightened tensions with anti-government groups. (AP PhotoRick Bowmer, File)
The GAO investigation faulted officials U.S. land agencies for failing to come up with plans to assess the security of government facilities, leaving employees at greater risk.
The security review was requested by the Democratic chairman of the U.S House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Raul Grijalva. It covered four agencies: the Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.
Grijalva said the findings underscore growing concerns over the safety of government workers on public land.
The Arizona lawmaker also criticized the Trump administration's appointment of Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William "Perry" Pendley, who has expressed support for Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. Bundy's family played central roles in a 2014 standoff over grazing fees in Nevada and the 2016 occupation of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
"Making a folk hero out of Bundy, that sets a dangerous precedent," Grijalva said. "At the top of the agency, they reinforce and embolden some of these actions by doing nothing and previously being in support of them."
Pendley, a former property rights attorney, routinely lambasted federal bureaucrats prior to his appointment in July and warned of a populist "sagebrush rebellion" if the government didn't open more Western lands to development.
Pendley now calls his past anti-government statements irrelevant. He told the AP in a recent interview that the Trump administration has helped quell any rebellion, by giving more deference to states on natural resource development.
Professor John Freemuth, an expert on U.S. land policies at Boise State University, said it was true that the Trump administration's pro-development policies could help quiet resentments toward the government. But Freemuth added that anti-government rhetoric also gets legitimized when it's espoused by prominent figures.
"Sometimes it's hard to be a federal employee," he said. "There seems to be a general hostility that bubbles around."
In a formal response to the GAO report, Interior Department Assistant Secretary Scott Cameron agreed with recommendations to carry out security assessments at hundreds of government facilities. In a separate response, Forest Service Chief Victoria Christiansen also agreed with the recommendation for security review.
Neither response gave details on when the security work would occur.
"Our highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of our employees and visitors on our public lands," said Interior Department spokeswoman Melissa Brown.
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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A $12 billion passenger bullet train linking Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area was dubbed the first true high-speed rail line in the nation on Monday, with the private company building it predicting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg before taking a stage with union representatives and company officials at the future site of a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip. “It’s really happening this time."
Buttigieg cited Biden administration support for the project that he said will bring thousands of union jobs, boost local economies and cut traffic and air pollution.
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track almost all in the median of Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California. It would link there with a commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles. A station also is planned in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
Company officials say the goal is to have trains exceeding speeds of 186 mph (300 kph) — comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains — operating in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I believe we’ll look back at today and say, ’This was the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,'” Brightline Holdings founder Wes Edens said Monday.
The company aims to link U.S. cities that are too near each other for air travel to make sense and too far for people to drive.
Las Vegas has no Amtrak service. The idea of a bullet train to Los Angeles dates back decades under various names including DesertXpress. Brightline West acquired the project in 2019, and company and public officials say it has all required right-of-way and environmental approvals, along with labor agreements.
Brightline received Biden administration backing including a $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure funds and recent approval to sell another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company won federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds.
Brightline West says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to a little more than two hours. It projects 11 million one-way passengers per year, with fares that Edens said will be comparable to airline ticket costs. The trains will offer rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check luggage.
Officials hope the train line will relieve congestion on I-15, where drivers often sit in miles of crawling traffic while returning home to Southern California from a Las Vegas weekend. An average of more than 44,000 automobiles per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on I-15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings' Miami-line debuted in 2018 and expanded service to Orlando International Airport last September with trains reaching speeds up to 125 mph (200 kph). It offers 16 round-trips per day with one-way tickets for the 235-mile (378-kilometer) distance costing about $80.
Other fast trains in the U.S. include Amtrak’s Acela, which can top 150 mph (241 kph) between Boston and Washington, D.C. But fast train connections for other U.S. cities have been floated, including Dallas to Houston; Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago to St. Louis; and Seattle to Portland, Oregon. Most have faced delays.
In California, a proposed 500-mile (805-kilometer) rail line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco was approved by voters in 2008, but has been beset by rising costs and routing disputes. A 2022 business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority projected the cost had more than tripled to $105 billion.
The Las Vegas strip is shown behind the groundbreaking sight of a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
CORRECTS TO SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Kids play in confetti at the groundbreaking ceremony for a high-speed railway on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil) (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
A plane takes off behind a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., left, and Sen. Jacky Rosend, D-Nev., right, speak at the groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo leaves the stage at a groundbreaking for a high-speed passenger rail on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, center, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, right, drive rail spikes into a symbolic rail, on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, background, at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - This photo Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for a high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, foreground, with Interstate 15 in the background, on the far outskirts of Victorville, Calif., the Mojave Desert city on the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
This Jan. 25, 2012, photo shows the site of a proposed station for the high-speed rail line to Las Vegas at the end of the Dale Evans Parkway exit from Interstate 15, on the far outskirts of the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, Calif. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
FILE - A Brightline train is shown at a station in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2018. A fast-tracked plan to build a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area is set to mark the start of construction. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
