Hundreds gather in front of NOAA campus in Boulder to protest recent federal firings
Former U.S. Congressman David Skaggs organized the protest in front of the research center building that bears his name
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BOULDER — Hundreds of protesters gathered Monday outside of the David Skaggs Research Center in Boulder where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is housed. NOAA, which also oversees the National Weather Forecasters Service located in the Boulder building, was hit Thursday with mass layoffs at the Trump administration’s directive.
More than 800 employees across the U.S. were fired last week. An additional 500 left the agency Friday after taking a “deferred resignation” offer that allowed workers to continue receiving pay and benefits through September. It is still unclear how many Colorado positions were affected.
The protest was organized by David Skaggs, for whom the building is named. Skaggs is a former Colorado politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1999.
Skaggs told The Colorado Sun people inside NOAA were “starting to get nervous,” and started arranging a protest.
“I didn’t know for sure it was going to happen, but it was pretty clear that it was in the works,” Skaggs said. He sent out an email Wednesday, the day before the NOAA layoffs.
“Have no illusion that citizen protests alone will turn things around. However, speaking out can bolster the efforts of those in elected office who are opposing the incremental destruction of the democracy,” Skaggs wrote in the email.
He spoke at the protest Monday alongside former state Rep. Ruth Wright, an active environmentalist who helped create Boulder’s open space sales tax, the first tax specifically for purchasing and preserving open space in the U.S.
During his time in Congress, Skaggs focused heavily on environmental causes and promoting civility between political parties. He introduced the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993, which established or expanded nearly 20 wilderness areas in the state, including the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness in the San Luis Valley, the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness near Aspen and Vasquez Peak Wilderness near Winter Park.
He is also credited for co-hosting the bipartisan House retreat, a weekend get together for House members and their families — one of his “admittedly contrived occasions,” he later told NPR, but a decent success nonetheless.
In the protest email, Skaggs suggested signs with messages like “trust science” and “honor public servants.” Monday’s crowd held signs that read “Scientists Save Lives” and “Support Science.” Some people shouted “Science!” at passing cars.
There were also a number of signs about trusting “Science Over Sharpies,” a nod to a 2019 incident in which President Trump, during his first term, doubled down on an inaccurate claim that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama by displaying a NOAA hurricane map that he’d drawn on with a Sharpie.
Last week’s firings targeted probationary employees who aren’t eligible for the same protections as longer-term employees. Probationary periods are not limited to new employees. Employees who move into new positions, including senior executive positions, or those switching departments, are also subject to the probationary period.
On Thursday, Paul Hemmick, who worked as a NOAA pilot based in Florida for 20 years, and recently moved with his family to Colorado, received an email from Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, chief operating officer of NOAA.
“She wrote me an email on Thursday at 2 o’clock Mountain time that basically said you are fired — you’re out of here in one hour,” Hemmick said.
As a pilot, Hemmick flew river research teams forecasting drought and flood conditions, conducting snow surveys and assessing hurricane damage. He took a job at the Boulder site offering administrative support in the physical sciences lab, which models and predicts water availability. He was in the role for four months when he got the email.
“Again, I’m a 20-year NOAA employee. I had to turn in my badge, pack up my box, and leave. With no severance, no nothing. Kicked to the curb,” Hemmick said. “What I’m upset about is that half the country thinks we’re villains because we’re federal workers. We’re people, we have families. It’s awful.”
It does not appear firings are based on performance. The same day emails started going out to NOAA employees about their termination, a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco ordered the Office of Personnel Management to stop indiscriminate firings because they are likely illegal.
The layoffs are part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency approach to government savings. DOGE posts a “leaderboard” of claimed savings, which critics pointed out were miscalculated by billions of dollars, and counted savings on programs that were already complete.
NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The agency describes itself as America’s “environmental intelligence agency,” according to its website. The agency generates climate data, weather forecasts and geolocation information used by thousands of regional partner organizations.
The Boulder site houses various weather agencies, including the National Weather Service’s Boulder office and NOAA’s space weather prediction service; the National Geodetic Survey, which maintains the nation’s mapping services, like GPS remote sensing and land surveys; the National Centers for Environmental Information, one of the largest archives of research in the country; among other labs and libraries.
“It’s beautiful to see this,” Hemmick said, gesturing at the crowd lined up along Broadway and gathered near the atomic clock. “But it’s not enough to thwart a completely anti-science campaign. I mean this is something I’ve never seen before in my entire 20 years working with NOAA. We’re going in full reverse.”
