This is a new series – Sacrificed for ‘Savings’ … in which we are showcasing the true impact of the Trump-Musk purge of federal employees via DOGE, by allowing those affected to tell their stories in their own words. Erin Cagney was a dedicated archeologist with the National Park Service, where she was tasked with protecting our nations historical treasures. She was one of many controversially terminated, seemingly without just cause. Here she is … in her own words:
In the span of only a few months, their actions may destroy our nation’s history that has been protected for over 15,000 years, and we will never get it back.”
I was fired on February 14, 2025, along with approximately 1,000 of my NPS colleagues. Because I am no longer able to perform my duties many irreplaceable archeological resources are in peril.
My park, National Capital Parks-East (NACE), contains over 170 archeological sites in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. These sites include 10,000 year old Indigenous camps; the 500 year old capital of the Piscataway people, Moyaone; early colonial manor houses and sites of enslavement; Frederick Douglass’s home; Civil War forts; Civilian Conservation Corps camps, and everything in between. These sites encapsulate the history of our nation and the people who have called our nation’s capital home over thousands of years. My job as the sole Archeologist for NACE was to protect and preserve these sites for present and future generations of Americans.
The day I was fired, I was monitoring the installation of a new waterline in Piscataway Park, ensuring that excavations did not damage any known archeological resources and documenting any archeological deposits that were discovered during the installation. This monitoring work was required in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act and agreed upon through consultation with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, state-recognized tribes, and the State Historic Preservation Office. I received my termination notice at 6:59 pm on Friday. Then the following Tuesday (Monday was a holiday), the contractor for the waterline installation called to ask me when I might be arriving at the park that day, and I had to deliver the news that I had been terminated and did not know who would be able to take my place. The work could not continue without an Archeologist present. From what I’ve been told, the work was delayed at least a week while they scrambled to find another archeologist who could fill in, pulling a colleague from the Regional Archeology Program that was already stretched far too thin.
CLICK TO READ ERIN CAGNEY’S VISUAL DIARY ABOUT HER TERMINATION FROM NPS
That same Friday I went with some colleagues to another location in NACE where the park plans to install much-needed benches and guard rails. I had known that there was a sensitive archeology site in this vicinity, located along the shoreline of the Potomac River. While my colleagues discussed bench placement, I conducted an archeological site condition assessment and found that erosion and tidal action were having severe and rapid detrimental effects to this site, essentially eating away at the shoreline and washing all remnants out into the river. I knew at this point in the afternoon that other NPS employees were being terminated that day, and I had a feeling that my time was coming. I quickly gathered the most sensitive artifacts and recorded the location of these finds with a GPS unit. Had I not been fired, my next step would have been to work with the tribes, the park partners, and NPS to seek funding for shoreline stabilization efforts that would benefit the archeology sites, the park’s hiking trails, the health of the river and shoreline ecosystems, and enhance visitor safety. Documenting the destruction of this site was the last action I ever got to take as an NPS Archeologist.
While I was new to federal service, I am not new to my career as an Archeologist. Working for the National Park Service was my dream job. I got to live this dream for 8 months and 25 days. This appointment was the culmination of years of hard work, research, and dedication to my field because I believe that my work is important, that the public benefits from protecting it, and that public land management provides an unparallelled opportunity to preserve these sites. This job allowed me to combine my expertise as an Archeologist with my passion for public service. I was building the archeology program at NACE to be more collaborative with tribal partners, engage the community and public with volunteer opportunities and outreach, and work with the park’s interpretive staff to share the stories of these sites with visitors. I was part of a skilled team of experts in natural and cultural resources who worked together to protect NACE’s resources while providing beautiful natural areas for underserved communities in D.C.
The National Park Service has been understaffed and underfunded for years. Staff have been doing a lot with a little for a long time, and the employees that were fired were working in vital roles to provide visitor services, protect natural and cultural resources, and protect the health and safety of the public. The administration viewed us at “at-will” employees who could easily be cut loose in the one-year probationary period of employment, but this is not supported by federal employment regulations. We all received the same letter that stated, “The Department determined that you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment because your subject matter knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the Department’s current needs, and it is necessary and appropriate to terminate, during the probationary period, your appointment to the position of Archeologist, at Washington,Dc [sic], within the National Park Service. As written above, my decision becomes effective immediately on the date of this Memorandum.” My performance review in Fall 2024 was excellent. My supervisors had been pleased with my work and had made comments to that effect. The implication that I was anything but an excellent employee and dedicated civil servant is deeply offensive.
Because the termination took place immediately, there was no handoff of the projects I was working on. Artifacts from sites I had excavated a few weeks prior were drying in racks in my office. I needed to write reports and create forms to document these sites, and I didn’t get the opportunity to do so. Data that I collected was lost. Relationships I had been building with partners were broken. This termination caused immediate harm to the very resources I swore an oath to protect.
Archeological sites are a fragile and non-renewable cultural resource. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. I fear for what this administration has planned for the future of all publicly managed land in the country. In the span of only a few months, their actions may destroy our nation’s history that has been protected for over 15,000 years, and we will never get it back.
