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The number of people staffing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has dropped by 3,600 during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to federal data obtained by the nonprofit conservation group Center for Biological Diversity.
Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska have seen some of the steepest losses, according to the agency’s year-over-year staff rosters obtained via public records request by Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the center.
Washington lost 248 staff and hired 26 between 2024 and 2026 from a total staff of 575 in 2024, a 38% decline. Oregon is down 40% since 2024, from 434 full, part-time and seasonal staff in 2024 to 257 as of this year. Alaska has lost 220 staff, a 36% decline.
In Pacific and and Wahkiakum counties, the expansive Willapa National Wildlife Refuge Complex — 21,000 acres around the bay and 5,600 acres in the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer — had 13 current staff as of July, four fewer than at the start of the current Trump administration, a 31% decline.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokespersons at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and Pacific Region office did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment last week, and the agency’s contact center line was nonfunctional.
Across the West, staff numbers are down since 2024, indicating many staff left and took buyouts or early retirements, or were cut by Elon Musk’s short-lived U.S. DOGE Service, a commission Trump created to slash federal spending.
“This brain drain will be hard to undo now that the Fish and Wildlife Service has lost so many expert scientists who helped save endangered animals and plants,” Greenwald said in a news release. “Americans overwhelmingly want to see our wildlife healthy and flourishing, but the Trump administration has made it clear that its goal is the exact opposite.”
In a Sept. 2 letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, retired national park superintendents addressed the subject of retirements in the department that includes the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service:
“The story is the same throughout the Department of the Interior. Many of these employees did not simply decide it was time to retire. Former and current employees have reported an atmosphere of pressure, fear, and uncertainty that has driven experienced public servants out the door.”
The Willapa complex is managed by Matthew Lloyd, who was promoted upon last year’s retirement of Jackie Ferrier.
Lloyd manages 12 staffers — seven based in Long Beach and five in Cathlamet, according to records obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Long Beach staff currently consists of three biological science technicians (one specified as dealing with wildlife), two engineering equipment operators, a maintenance worker and an administrative officer. Positions either eliminated or not refilled in Long Beach include a fish and wildlife biologist, a wildlife biologist and an engineering equipment operator.
Cathlamet staff include a biological science technician specializing in invasive species, a wildlife biologist, a wildlife refuge specialist, a maintenance worker helper and an engineering equipment operator. Positions either eliminated or not refilled in Cathlamet include a social services assistant and a tractor operator.
