This story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The scientists responsible for crucial fish and wildlife research projects in the West involving species like elk, mule deer, sage grouse, and wild horses might be next in line for the Trump administration’s chopping block to improve government efficiency.
Like many of the federal workforce cuts that include biologists, trail crews, and even waste-water treatment managers, experts say rather than improving government efficiency, laying off employees from the US Geological Survey Cooperative Research Units could actually end up costing taxpayers more.
It’s still unclear exactly how deep the cuts could be, although the Department of Interior told the USGS and cooperative units to present plans to slice their budgets by 10 percent, 25 percent, and even 40 percent, said Ed Arnett, CEO of The Wildlife Society. Any cuts to the agencies will have ripple effects throughout the wildlife world, experts say, while cuts of up to 40 percent could cause permanent harm to fish and wildlife, from mule deer and elk to endangered desert tortoises and sage grouse. And Western states and nonprofits, which have millions of dollars of their own money wrapped up in hundreds of research projects, are bracing themselves for the worst.
“My concern is really high. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has over $4 million worth of projects, either ongoing right now, getting close to wrapping up, or new projects,” said the commission’s director, Tim McCoy, including projects on the greater prairie chicken, studying declines in wild turkey numbers, and how to more efficiently manage invasive carp. “Our co-op unit is pretty integral to our ability to do and answer the real applied science questions, like declining populations.”
The federal government established the cooperative fish and wildlife research units, often just called co-ops, in 1935. Congress codified it in 1960, allowing for annual appropriations to be nestled within the US Geological Survey under the Department of Interior. Their mandate was clear and simple: Help states with research projects they didn’t have the capacity to do on their own, offer technical assistance and train the next generation of biologists.
And so they did, often as teams of two or three, working in 44 universities spread across 41 states—at most about 120 scientists altogether, at least until the recent cuts, which already laid off nearly half a dozen probationary employees. “Losing (the co-ops) would be devastating,” said John Carroll, a University of Nebraska wildlife professor and president of the National Association of University Fish and Wildlife Programs.
The co-ops are already lean, he added; in many ways, they are the definition of efficiency. They are the opposite of “ivory tower” university programs, providing a critical link between university science and local fish and wildlife needs.
“This is blue-collar, boots-on-the-ground, getting-it-done stuff,” said Tony Wasley, former head of the Nevada Department of Wildlife and current president of the Wildlife Management Institute, which partners with the USGS, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, universities, and state wildlife agencies to run the units.
About 700 projects are underway at any given time across the country, supporting more than 1,000 jobs each year for skilled workers including graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and research technicians. Ultimately, they raise about $3 for every $1 they receive from the federal government.
Projects include the Wyoming Migration Initiative, which sprang out of the University of Wyoming’s cooperative unit and led to the mapping of dozens of big game migration routes across the state. That co-op also worked with other states around to the West to produce atlases that help state wildlife agencies and lawmakers remove harmful fences, invest in easements and identify good locations for highway over- and underpasses that save both wildlife and human lives.
The scientific research the co-ops do helps state agencies address the threats that fish and wildlife face from development and diseases, said Jerod Merkle, a University of Wyoming assistant professor of migration ecology and conservation. In Wyoming, scientists provide information the state uses to maintain its wildlife and fisheries and preserve the state’s hunting and fishing heritage.
Arnett said he anticipates cuts perhaps as early as mid-March. The USGS did not respond to requests for comment.
The firing of hundreds of biologists across the country is creating a chilling effect, not only on those who lose their jobs as well as those who remain, but also on the future of wildlife and fisheries research. Many fired biologists were local people who shook hands with landowners, discussed important programs over coffee and maintained critical relationships between the government and Westerners who live with fish and wildlife.
And co-ops are responsible for training many of the biologists who go on to work for state fish and wildlife agencies, said Wyoming Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce. “The added benefit of working with these young scientists and giving them exposure to real application in the field is something we couldn’t find anywhere else.”