The Southeast Utah Group — formed in 1967 to jointly oversee Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Natural Bridges National Monument — added Hovenweep National Monument in 1998. Until 1994, its operations were housed in multiple separate facilities across Moab. The newly built 35,000-square-foot office, leased from a private owner through the General Services Administration on behalf of the Park Service, brought those operations under one roof for the first time.
Roughly 65 to 70 employees worked for the Southeast Utah Group in the early 1990s, according to Southeast Utah Group spokesperson Karen Henker. Former staff said the transition was necessary to accommodate a growing workforce and improve communication across divisions.
“[The previous setup] was unworkable,” said Walt Dabney, who served as superintendent of the Southeast Utah Group from 1991 to 1999.
By consolidating teams from five core divisions and centralizing specialized functions like river operations, GIS mapping and museum curation, Dabney said the new facility significantly improved coordination and day-to-day operations.
“All of that went into one building and we never looked back,” he said. “It was just such a positive change in the efficiency of running the operation.”
Now, more than 30 years later, the future of the building is in question.
The Moab headquarters is among hundreds of federally leased properties under review by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE — a Trump administration initiative with a broad mandate to eliminate what it deems wasteful federal spending. One of its priorities is reducing the government’s leased office footprint. The building’s lease, which Henker confirmed costs about $805,000 annually, is set to expire next April.
Read the full report at moabtimes.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.