Wednesday March 5, 2025
Lost Coast Outpost —
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to dramatically downsize the federal government has placed a bullseye on an Arcata field office that houses roughly two dozen 65 full-time employees of agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA Fisheries and Redwood National Park.
Following the first wave in a massive purge of federal employees carried out by the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the administration now plans to close more than 2 million square feet of office space being used by the Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies.
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) lease-termination list includes 1655 Heindon Rd. in Arcata, a 25,500-square-foot office building off Giuntoli Lane, near Toni’s 24-Hour Restaurant. According to a former federal employee who spoke on condition of anonymity, the office’s lease is scheduled to be terminated at the end of September.