Moab’s NPS building removed from DOGE lease termination list. (The Times-Independent)
No reason was given for removing it from a list of nearly 600 federal sites the Department of Government Efficiency earmarked for closure.
Though still listed as subject to lease termination on DOGE’s website as of June 25, Henker said the closure is no longer moving forward and the building will remain in use.
The Grand County Commission urged Utah’s congressional delegation to review the closure after it was announced, as staff and administrators at NPS and the USGS Biological Science Center fretted over what the fallout might be as there is no other building that could accommodate the two groups.
Roughly 50 NPS employees and 20 from the USGS work in the building.
The site also includes vehicle and equipment storage, river operations under the visitor protection division, GIS and compliance mapping systems and archival storage — though some archival materials were relocated in past years. The building is also home to boats, snowplows and heavy equipment used for rescue operations and road maintenance across the parks and canyons like Westwater and Cataract.
The Times-Independent previously reported that the lease costs $805,408 annually and projects more than $8 million in savings if allowed to expire in April 2026. Henker confirmed the square footage, the lease cost and the lease termination date.
There was no indication that the nearby USGS Water Science building at 123 West 200 South has received a similar reprieve. It remains scheduled for closure in September, according to DOGE’s website.
The story was originally published by The Times-Independent.