For Immediate Release: October 28, 2025
Contact: Jewel Tomasula, Ph.d, National Policy Director, [email protected], 202-930-3044
M. Flores, Communications Associate, [email protected]
Federal Judge Halts Interior Department Layoffs That Threatened Wildlife Protections During Government Shutdown
Decision comes amid shutdown and months of political attacks on public servants vital to wildlife conservation and public lands management.
Washington D.C. – A federal judge has paused plans from the U.S. Department of Interior to lay off thousands of public servants during the government shutdown.
Crucial to protecting and recovering endangered species are the people who work in our federal agencies. The current government shutdown has affected thousands of workers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and National Marine Fisheries Service, preventing them from doing the critical work to protect threatened and endangered species. This government shutdown is the latest in a months-long attack on these dedicated, hard-working public servants.
Since February 2025, these chronically underfunded and understaffed agencies have lost critical personnel due to the “Department of Government Efficiency” led by billionaire Elon Musk. Efforts to eliminate federal positions continue under Trump appointee Russel Vought. Public-serving programs on public lands have been devastated. The reduction in staffing levels has impacted the public’s ability to access publicly funded outdoor spaces and access to education opportunities in nature.
According to documents revealed by court order, Trump appointees have planned mass layoffs for the Department of the Interior, which would especially devastate the collaborative, partner-driven work to recover endangered species. Planned layoffs include:
- 143 employees in the Fish and Wildlife Service, including at the Ecological Services program offices, which implement the Endangered Species Act and at a dozen National Wildlife Refuges;
- 335 employees in the U.S. Geological Survey, including at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins Science Center, and Great Lakes Science Center;
- 272 employees in the National Park Service, including at the regional offices for the Northeast, Southeast, Pacific West, and the Denver Science Center;
- 474 employees in the Bureau of Land Management, including public servants for the state offices for Oregon, Utah, California, Idaho, Arizona, and Colorado;
“Scientists in our federal agencies are the cornerstone of wildlife sciences in the United States,” said Jewel Tomasula, National Policy Director for Endangered Species Coalition. “We’re alarmed at how the Trump administration has been firing and ignoring highly qualified wildlife scientists, keeping them from the crucial work they do protecting and recovering endangered species.”
“We are concerned about the ability of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to perform necropsies and, when necessary, criminal investigations on dead wolves. The Colorado Bureau of Land Management workers that Trump wants to fire are crucial for ecosystem and fire management as well as community outreach,” says Ryan Sedgeley, Southern Rockies Representative for the Endangered Species Coalition. “The impacts of these firings and coerced resignations are pushing our already chronically underfunded and understaffed agencies to the breaking point. The effect will be profound for wildlife and public lands management in Colorado.”
