Wildlife Refuges on Trump’s Hit List
The Trump
administration has wildlife refuges in its sights. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service head Brian Nesvik launched a review of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the
National Fish Hatchery System. The review will look for “refuges or hatcheries
established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission. It will also
look for operational funding and the workforce.
Trustom Pond. Photo by Will Collette
The NWRS has 573 refuges on more than 96 million acres of
land and five Marine National Monuments on 760 million acres of submerged lands
and waters. Half of FWS employees work for the NWRS. The NFSH stocks over 122
million fish per year. President Theodore Roosevelt created the Pelican Island
National Wildlife Refuge off Florida’s coast as the first unit of the NWRS.”
Congress created the NFHS in 1872 to help the production of fish for
food.
Wildlife refuges are places set aside to protect wildlife and their habitats. The NWRS and the NFHS protect 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 1,000 species of fish. Wildlife refuges welcome more than 67 million visitors per year, generate over $3 billion in economic activity, and support more than 41,000 jobs.
Job Losses and Disinformation
Seven retired FWS employees sent a letter to Nesvik questioning the “time frame for the
developmental initial recommendations,” which is only three weeks. They also
expressed concern about the review directing employees to look for refuges or
hatcheries that do not align with the mission of the FWS. The letter pointed
out that any review should use the “established purposes” of each unit of the
NWRS “as a guideline, not the overall mission of the FWS.” The FWS lacks
the “broad authority” to dispose of NWRS’s lands, as only Congress can dispose
of them, with limited exceptions.
The FWS lost 18 percent of its staff due to DOGE cuts.
Data from the Center for Biological Diversity found that
there were 530 fewer biologists in 2025 than in 2024. Many of the employees who
left were senior-level. Hawaii is sometimes referred to as the “extinction
capital of the world,” and it lost 10 senior-level scientists and managers.
Floria lost 20 senior-level scientists and managers, while California lost 40,
and Oregon and Washington combined lost 51. Documents filed with the court in a
lawsuit by government employee unions and other plaintiffs state that the Trump
administration plans to eliminate 143 additional positions.
Twenty Democratic senators wrote a letter to Nesvik “to sound the alarm” on the job losses at the FWS, noting that it “is causing particular harm to the NWRS.” According to the letter, nearly 60 percent of wildlife refuges lack the staff and resources “needed to fulfill their missions.”
The Trump administration continues to mention expanding access for hunters to
wildlife refuges. However, 90 percent of wildlife refuges are open to hunters.
During Nesvik’s recent testimony at a congressional hearing, he said the FWS
“is continually working to expand access for hunters and anglers.”
Gina-Marie
Cheesemanhttp://www.justmeans.com/users/gina-marie-cheeseman
Gina-Marie Cheeseman, freelance writer/journalist/copyeditor
about.me/gmcheeseman Twitter: @gmcheeseman