The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has lost 3,600 employees during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to federal data obtained by the nonprofit conservation group Center for Biological Diversity.
Oregon, California, Alaska, and Washington have experienced some of the most significant staff reductions. The number of Fish and Wildlife employees in Oregon has decreased by 40% since 2024, falling from 434 full-time, part-time, and seasonal staff in 2024 to 257 as of this year. Alaska has lost 220 staff, a 36% decline, and Washington has lost 222, a 38% 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 on Wednesday and Thursday, and the agency’s contact center line was nonfunctional.
Across the West, staff numbers have declined since 2024, suggesting that many employees accepted buyouts or early retirements, or were affected by cuts from the U.S. DOGE Service, a commission established by Trump to reduce federal spending.
- Alaska has lost 220 staff, a 36% decline.
- Arizona has lost 83 staff, a 45% decline.
- California has lost 313, a 36% decline.
- Colorado has lost 189 staff, a 41% decline.
- Idaho has lost 61 staff, a 35% decline.
- Montana has lost 77 staff, a 40% decline.
- Nevada has lost 49 staff, a 37% decline.
- New Mexico has lost 149 staff, a 47% decline.
- Utah has lost 26 staff, a 35% decline.
- Wyoming has lost 16 staff, a 25% decline.
Among the nationwide losses are 1,900 scientists, including biologists, foresters, and wildfire managers. This includes 95 scientists who worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service in offices across Oregon, from coastal cities to La Grande, Bend, and Portland.
“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 stated 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.”
Trump has listed fewer vulnerable species for federal protection than any other presidential administration since the Endangered Species Act was first passed by Congress, according to Greenwald’s analysis of the agency’s own database.
In the year following the 2025 DOGE cuts, the U.S. lost approximately 350,000 federal jobs, according to an estimate from the nonprofit Work for America, which assists former federal workers in finding new employment in state and local governments.
This story was originally produced by Oregon Capital Chronicle, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes Idaho Capital Sun, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
