HAMILTON — Scientists are often careful to take off their work badges when they leave the campus of one of the nation’s top research facilities, which is located in the Bitterroot Valley.
It’s a reflection of the long-standing tension caused by Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ improbable location in this conservative, blue-collar town of 5,000 that was built on logging.
Many residents are proud of the internationally recognized research unfolding at the National Institutes of Health facility and acknowledge that Rocky Mountain Labs has become an economic driver for Hamilton.
But a few locals resent what they consider the elitist scientists at the facility, which has employed about 500 people in recent years. Or they fear the contagious pathogens studied there could escape the labs’ well-protected walls.
That split widened with the COVID-19 pandemic and the divisions that emerged from mask mandates and vaccine development.
In 2023, Matt Rosendale, a Republican who was then a U.S. representative from Montana, falsely tied the lab to the origins of COVID-19 in an attempt to cut its funding.
Now, Hamilton is a prime example of how the Trump administration’s mass federal layoffs and cancellation of research grants are having ripple effects in communities far from Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of people filled the sidewalks at an intersection in downtown Hamilton on an April afternoon, waving signs that read “Hands Off Federal Workers” and “Stop Strangling Science.”
Watch previous coverage: Hundreds gather to protest at Hamilton's "Hands Off" Rally
Some driving by honked in support, rolled their windows down, and cheered. Others flipped off the rallygoers and cast insults at them. A passing bicyclist taunted protesters with chants of “DOGE” — short for the Department of Government Efficiency, the federal initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk to cut costs that has driven mass layoffs and slashed programs.
Kim Hasenkrug, a former Rocky Mountain Labs researcher of 31 years, who retired in 2022, joined the crowd. He slammed President Donald Trump’s promise to let Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on health issues.
“We’re beginning to see what ‘going wild’ looks like,” Hasenkrug said. “These cuts will not streamline research. They will throttle it.”
As of early May, 41 Rocky Mountain Labs workers had been let go or told their contracts would end this summer, and nine more had retired early, according to researchers employed by the facility.
KFF Health News spoke with 10 current or former Rocky Mountain Labs workers who requested anonymity to speak about information that has not been publicly released.
The federal government has also slashed billions of dollars for research, including at least $29 million in grants to Montana recipients, ranging from university scientists to the state health department. That’s according to HHS data confirmed by KFF Health News.
Scientists who remain in Hamilton said research has slowed. They’ve struggled to buy basic gear amid federal directives that changed how orders are placed.
Now, more cuts are planned for workers who buy and deliver critical, niche supplies, such as antibodies, according to researchers at the labs.
The Department of Health and Human Services didn’t respond to repeated requests for more information on the government’s cuts to research, including questions about the changes in Hamilton.
Deputy press secretary Emily Hilliard said the department is committed to the “continuity of essential research.”
Some within the lab feel as if they’ve become public enemies or outcasts, unable to defend themselves without risking their jobs.
Postdoctoral scientists just starting their careers are seeing options dwindle.
Some workers whose employment contracts expire within days or weeks have been in the dark about whether they’ll be renewed.
At least one Rocky Mountain Labs scientist moved to another country to research infectious disease, citing “current turmoil,” according to an email sent from the scientist to co-workers that was reviewed by KFF Health News.
“The remaining staff has been discredited, disrespected, and discouraged from remaining in public service,” Hasenkrug said.
The National Institutes of Health is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. It has 27 institutes and centers focused on understanding illness and disabilities and improving health.
The agency’s research has helped lead to vaccines against major diseases — from smallpox to COVID-19 — and has been behind the majority of medicines approved for the U.S. market.
That research also generated more than $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide, according to United for Medical Research, a coalition of research groups and advocates.
The Trump administration aims to eliminate roughly 1,200 jobs at the NIH and shrink its budget by 40%.
The administration’s budget proposal to cut NIH funding calls the agency’s spending “wasteful,” deems its research “risky,” and accuses it of promoting “dangerous ideologies.”
It’s a dramatic political turnabout for the NIH, which for decades enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington. From 2015 to 2023, its annual budget grew by more than $17 billion.
As of 2023, Rocky Mountain Labs was one of only 51 facilities in the world with the highest level of biosafety precautions, according to the Global BioLabs mapping project.
In April, HHS indefinitely stalled work at another of those labs, the Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland, Wired reported.
Kennedy has said the nation should pause funding infectious disease research, and the White House has said it plans to intensify scrutiny of gain-of-function research, which involves altering a pathogen to study its spread.
Hamilton is a place of scientists, ranchers, and outdoor recreationists where 1 in 8 people live below the federal poverty line. Nearly 70% of the county’s residents voted for Trump in 2024, and Trump signs still dot U.S. Highway 93 leading to town.
In the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sheriff and county commissioners refused to enforce a statewide mandate to mask in public spaces while Rocky Mountain Labs researchers worked to understand the virus.
The lab’s work dates to 1900, and even early on, it was controversial. Rocky Mountain spotted fever was killing people in the valley. Researchers found the cause — ticks — and worked to eradicate the disease-carrying bugs by requiring ranchers to treat their cattle.
That created resentment among locals who “already harbored a healthy distrust of government-imposed programs,” according to an NIH account.
The tension came to a head in 1913 when a “dipping vat” used to chemically treat cattle was blown up with dynamite and another damaged with sledgehammers.
Now, some residents and local leaders are worried about the economic consequences of an exodus of federal workers and their salaries.
Most of the county is government-managed public land, and the first wave of federal cuts hit U.S. Forest Service workers who do everything from clear trails to fight wildfires.
Rocky Mountain Labs generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy by creating more work for industries, including construction and bringing more people into the city’s shops, a 2023 University of Montana study found.
Hamilton is also a base for international vaccine developer GSK due to the lab’s presence.
Kathleen Quinn, a vice president of communications for the company, said GSK’s business with government agencies “continues as usual” for now amid federal changes and that it’s “too early to say what any longer-term impact could be.”
“Our community is impacted more than most,” said City Councilor Darwin Ernst. He spoke during an overflowing March town hall to discuss the federal government cuts.
Hundreds of people turned out, asking city councilors to do something.
Watch previous coverage: Ravalli County residents speak out over firing of local federal employees
Ernst, a former researcher at the lab who now works as a real estate broker and appraiser, said in an interview he’s starting to see more homes enter the market, which he attributed to the atmosphere of uncertainty and former federal workers’ having to find jobs elsewhere.
“Someone recently left with her entire family. Because of the layoffs, they can’t afford to live here,” he said. “Some people retire here, but that’s not everyone.”
Jane Shigley said she’s been a Hamilton resident for more than 30 years and initially thought the government would find “some inefficiencies, no big deal.” But now she’s worried about her hometown’s future.
“Something’s going on that we can’t control,” Shigley said. “And the people that it’s happening to aren’t allowed to talk to us about it.”
The City Council sent a letter to federal officials in April asking for formal consultation prior to any significant changes, given Hamilton’s “interdependence” with Rocky Mountain Labs and the federally controlled lands surrounding Hamilton.
As of May, city leaders hadn’t received a response.
People in town are split on how badly the federal cuts will affect Hamilton.
Julie Foster, executive director of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, said the community survived the decline of logging, and she thinks Rocky Mountain Labs will survive, too.
“It will be here. There may be bumps in the road, but this is a resilient place,” Foster said.
Even amid the cuts, Rocky Mountain Labs is in the process of a building expansion that, so far, hasn’t stopped. And researchers’ work continues. This spring, scientists there helped make the first identification in Montana of a species of tick known to carry Lyme disease.
- KFF Health News correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell contributed to this report.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
