DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps ‘a devastating blow to the state of Wyoming’

Following the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s order Friday to cancel nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, organizations across Wyoming are preparing for cuts to a wide range of services including alternative education programs, agricultural extension offices, the state’s conservation corps and one community health clinic. 

As the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, AmeriCorps provides funding for organizations that offer community services. In Wyoming, those grants are administered by ServeWyoming, which also acts as a statewide hub for volunteers. 

With Friday’s announcement, however, the Trump administration is now expected to claw back dollars already appropriated by congress. 

More precisely, Wyoming stands to lose roughly $2.4 million in annual grants and scholarships, ServeWyoming Vice Chair Andrea Harrington told WyoFile. That figure doesn’t include matching state grants and individual donations that will also be lost in the process, Harrington said, nor does it reflect the impact it will have across the state. 

“Terminating funding, and thus annihilating these programs, is a devastating blow to the state of Wyoming,” Harrington wrote in a letter to Gov. Mark Gordon and the state’s federal delegation. 

Last year alone, Harrington wrote, Wyoming AmeriCorps members tutored and mentored more than 2,700 children, provided 75,000 hours of service, recruited and deployed more than 3,000 volunteers, served 200 military families and leveraged more than $1.9 million in outside funding from businesses, foundations and other sources in Wyoming. 

“Needs will go unmet in this state due to this decision,” Harrington wrote. 

The move to cut AmeriCorps grants comes amid a push by the Trump administration to shrink the size of the federal government. Wyoming’s delegation has largely backed the undertaking with its highest-ranking member, Sen. John Barrasso, previously lauding it for “addressing reckless and wasteful Washington spending.” 

Others, like Harrington, don’t see the latest round of cuts as a cost savings measure.  

“What I struggle with most is that this is somehow an act of efficiency,” Harrington told WyoFile, adding that $40 is returned for every federal dollar invested in service in Wyoming. 

“How is it efficient to cut these programs?” Harrington said. 

Neither Sens. Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis nor Rep. Harriet Hageman responded to WyoFile’s request for comment. 

“We are still getting information on the implications and the impacts of this announcement,” Michael Pearlman, Gordon’s communication director, told WyoFile in a statement. “Therefore, the governor is going to refrain from commenting at this time.”

Wyoming-based organizations that rely on AmeriCorps funding include: Agricultural Extension Offices, Phorge, SAE International, Teton Science Schools, The Science Zone, Wildflower Learning Community, Wyoming Conservation Corps, Brain Injury Advocates, The Iris Club House, Rooted in Wyoming, The Nicolaysen Art Museum, Lander Free Medical Clinic, Casper Green House Project and GrowWyo/Slow Food Sheridan. 

Up in the air

If the cuts stick, the impacts on programming will vary from a reduction in services to complete elimination, Harrington said. 

For the Wyoming Conservation Corps, the loss of funding for its AmeriCorps programming could be an unrecoverable blow to the 19-year-old organization.

“We hope not,” said John Koprowski, dean of the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, which oversees the corps. “All we know right now is that we’ve been asked to pause.”

The “pause” for the Wyoming Conservation Corps means that the statewide AmeriCorps program will not be hiring a new program director. Koprowski had assumed that duty in an interim capacity to cover for an opening unrelated to DOGE. The same goes for all the other open positions and corps members — none are being filled for now. That includes six crew leaders who would have been overseeing five or six AmeriCorps members apiece, he said.

“So you’re looking at dozens of people who are impacted,” Koprowski said.

The impacts of the pause and likely cancellation of grants — the Washington Post reports it’s a “final agency action” that’s “not administratively appealable” — will extend to the organizations, federal agencies and businesses that worked with the Wyoming Conservation Corps.

“They’re fixing fences, trails, clearing debris from forests, reducing fire risk, all those kinds of good things,” Koprowski said.

Inspired by the work, oftentimes service members have gone on to build their careers and lives in the Equality State, he said. “They often become professionals here in the state,” Koprowski said. “Wyoming grows on them, and they become Wyomingites.” (Disclosure: WyoFile Reporter Mike Koshmrl who contributed to this story served as a City of Lakes Americorps volunteer in Minnesota in 2008.)

That applies to Harrington, who described her time of service with the Wyoming Conservation Corps as setting “the trajectory of my life” in her letter to the governor and the federal delegation. 

“My time of service not only made it possible for me to further my education and work experience in the state, but it also planted the seed that grew into my desire to put roots in this state, to work in this state, and to raise my family here,” wrote Harrington, who now works as an attorney. 

Federal funding for the Wyoming Conservation Corps was administered by ServeWyoming. WyoFile was unable to reach ServeWyoming’s executive director on Monday afternoon.

“It’s funding that’s been awarded already,” Koprowski said. “We’ve been told, ‘No, you should pause and you can’t move forward.’ What this means for us long-term, one can only guess.”

In Jackson Hole, the historic Teton Science Schools is in a similar situation. Since 2009, the place-based education organization has housed AmeriCorps members to help with teaching and to assist with an array of projects in the community.

“We became one of the statewide hubs for AmeriCorps, and part of that is because we have a great program,” Teton Science Schools Executive Director Wayne Turner told WyoFile. “This year we have 19 community partners in the valley.”

On Monday, ServeWyoming informed Teton Science Schools that its grant was “terminated” and that they should “pause the program,” Turner said. “Which we are doing.” 

Teton Science Schools has deployed three cohorts of AmeriCorps members, each about 15 people, annually. Historically, many of those service members have gone on to build careers in outdoor education. Some stick around Teton County and climb the ranks at Teton Science Schools.

“This is the beginning of their career,” Turner said. “Since we’ve been doing this in 2009, there’s been over 500 AmeriCorps volunteers who have come through Teton Science Schools.” 

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Other organizations across the state often depend on AmeriCorps VISTA members, who serve full time for one year and help with things like fundraising, grant writing, research and volunteer recruitment. This work, Harrington said, fills a costly void for organizations. 

VISTA members currently serving in Wyoming were told their positions have been terminated, effectively immediately, Harrington said.  

“It’s a slap in the face to people who’d decided to dedicate a year of life to serving and bettering their communities,” she said. “Now they’re being hung out to dry.” 

Still, Harrington said she’s cautiously optimistic Wyoming’s delegation will come through, particularly Barrasso who she said has shown repeated support for such programs. 

Plus, she said the Administrative Procedure Act allows for a seven-day objection period, and Harrington said she expects a challenge to be filed. 

“They’re not following the rules,” she said.