Sobbing spring: Feds struggle to fill seats for ‘ecogrief’ training session

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s “ecogrief” training is more widespread than originally thought, having already been conducted in “many” of the agency’s regions, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Times.

But the agency has been struggling to fill all the seats in its upcoming round of training on Friday, with 10 of the 35 slots unclaimed as of Tuesday.

“We still have some available seats for this training, open to anyone,” Katherine Hill, the organizer, pleaded in an email to colleagues. “The intent of this workshop is to take care of our people who work in these challenging circumstances: to help you all build resiliency, recognize stressors, understand loss and be empowered to take care of yourselves.”

Ecogrief is the name some psychologists have given to distress that some feel over a changing environment.

FWS, an agency within the Interior Department, is paying $4,000 for each virtual session, funded through the agency’s regular budget for employee training and development.