'You're Terminated': Federal Cuts Felt At Hamptons Wildlife Refuge

SAG HARBOR, NY — The firing of close to 400 U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service Employees Friday due to massive federal spending cuts has had an impact on a National Wildlife Refuge in the Hamptons.

On Long Island, three national refuges exist, including The Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Sag Harbor, the Target Rock National Wildlife Refuge in Lloyd Harbor in Huntington, and the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in Shirley.

In Sag Harbor, volunteers and staff were rocked by the firing of one individual at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge this weekend.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge protects 187 acres in Southampton. The refuge is located near Sag Harbor, and includes a peninsula one and a half miles long, locally known as Jessup’s Neck, which separates Little Peconic Bay from Noyack Bay.

A volunteer at the front desk of the Noyack Road facility spoke with Patch Wednesday.

"It's awful," she said, explaining that one person, who works Saturdays, had been fired. "There was no notice. The person came to work and was told, 'You're terminated.'"

The loss is another in a series of staff reductions over time, she said. "Now, we're down to a very few people."

This week's firing, she said, "could impact whether the Refuge is open on Saturdays — because the person who works Saturdays is no longer here now."

As it stands, the visitors' center remains open Monday through Friday, with Saturday remaining "iffy," she said.

Trails remain open, she said.

The refuges on Long Island are all run and maintained by the same group of people who work in one main office, the volunteer said — so the cuts impact all, including the Target Rock Refuge in Huntington. "One less employee affects everyone," she said.

So far in Sag Harbor, there has been just one job lost due to recent federal cuts, she said. "It's an hour-by-hour situation," she said. "Everyone is being encouraged to contact their representatives in Congress and express their feelings."

The Times Standard said that over the holiday weekend, within the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service’s parent agency, about 2,300 probationary workers — including 400 with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, and 3,400 U.S. Forest Service probationary employees were fired, according to Reuters.

Requests for comment by the U.S. National Fish & Wildlife Service were not immediately returned.

The National Wildlife Refuge Association released a statement Friday: "The National Wildlife Refuge Association is deeply alarmed by today’s Department of the Interior (DOI)-wide termination of approximately 370 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) employees, many of whom are critical to the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System. These firings, which disproportionately target biologists and natural resource professionals, are a direct attack on science-based conservation and the future of America’s wildlife."

The statement continued: "According to reports, these positions were deemed 'not in the public interest' by DOI—an assertion that fundamentally ignores the role these professionals play in protecting and restoring our nation’s wildlife and wild places.This sweeping, mass firing comes at a time when the Refuge System is already struggling with a decimated workforce. Today’s cuts will further cripple the agency’s ability to protect and manage America’s 573 national wildlife refuges, which span 95 million acres of land, 750 million acres of marine habitat, and supports countless species, many of which are keystone species, pollinators, and others vital to agriculture and the health of ecosystems."

“Losing this many dedicated employees all at once is an especially devastating blow to conservation efforts nationwide and an intentional dismantling of science,” said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. "The National Wildlife Refuge System was already underfunded and understaffed. The people being fired today are the backbone of wildlife protection in this country. Without them, habitats will degrade, endangered species will go unmonitored, trails will remain unmaintained, and visitors will lose access to environmental education and recreation opportunities. This is a crisis. These terminations will have long-lasting consequences for the protection of wildlife and habitat, as well as for the communities that depend on refuges for recreation, tourism, and economic benefits."