Here in Maine, you can find National Wildlife Refuges in every corner of the state.
From Rachel Carson NWR on the southern coast, through the Maine Coastal Islands, to Moosehorn NWR in Down East Maine, up to Aroostook NWR in the County, and over to Umbagog NWR in the western mountains, these amazing places are home to many of Maine’s iconic plant and animal species, including moose, fish, birds, bats, insects and every critter in between.
People play an essential role in our refuges, too. Each year, refuge staff welcome visitors from all walks of life — school groups, tourists, researchers and folks just looking to immerse themselves in nature. Staff make these experiences possible and ensure visitor safety, while helping to care for these special places. These are the dedicated employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), part of the Department of the Interior.
Unfortunately, the recent drastic cuts to federal agencies threaten the health of Maine’s lands and wildlife. On Valentine’s Day of this year, thousands of probationary federal workers were terminated with no warning, no performance assessment, no rationale and no severance. Tens of thousands of federal workers filed for unemployment nationally, straining state budgets. Their incomes would no longer be spent in the rural towns where they lived. Across the country, the mass termination of federal employees in natural resources fields has left massive holes in agencies’ ability to respond to wildfires, floods and hurricanes, all of which have been increasing in recent years.
The mission of USFWS is “to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” Meet any of these public servants and you will understand how much that mission means to them. Biologists protect populations of puffins and piping plovers that draw tourists to Maine’s shores. Conservation investment officers ensure states have funding to sustain moose, bear, deer, turkey, waterfowl and fish for hunters and anglers. In our natural resource-based economy, this work is especially important.
While federal court decisions have restored some lost jobs, plans for reductions in force are still being carried out across federal agencies. Systems are being broken; spending freezes have prevented refuges from stocking toilet paper or paying for basic utilities. Offices have been ordered closed, even while employees were ordered to report to their duty stations full time. Federal workers have spent precious hours writing weekly productivity reports for an artificial intelligence machine. Sadly, public servants with decades of invaluable knowledge and experience are leaving the service in droves. Roughly one-quarter of USFWS staff is already gone.
This will have real consequences not just for the federal workers, but for everyone. In Maine, the freezing of a federal contract affected a forestry company contracted to do over $1.2 million of work on NWRs in northern forests. Foresters who worked in Maine have retired abruptly, with no one left to oversee timber harvests on refuge lands. Critical forest management is going undone, and loggers are going unpaid. Contracts to improve roads and bridges for fish passage are on hold. It is unclear whether these federal contracts will ever be fulfilled, as ongoing cuts heap devastation on federal workers, their communities and rural economies.
Rather than eliminating waste, fraud or abuse, these cuts have instead displaced hard-working members of Maine’s community and the forests, fish and wildlife that they had been proud to steward. Without knowledgeable natural resource professionals, our forests and wildlife will fall out of balance. States like Maine will be expected to implement critical programs in the absence of federal funding and professional support. Executive orders are calling for increased energy production (with a reduced workforce), development of public lands and rollbacks on protections for endangered wildlife.
In moments like this, the words of Mainer and legendary conservationist Rachel Carson ring especially true: “The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature, but of ourselves,” she wrote. “But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” Through all these changes to Maine and our nation, let us hope that we don’t lose too much of ourselves along the way.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.