While a termination letter claimed that Gladstone\u2019s \u201cknowledge, skills and abilities\u201d did not meet the department\u2019s needs, his supervisor stated at a recent performance review that they had \u201cnever experienced a new employee completing what Nick accomplished in his first few months on the job\u201d. He had worked for the service since May 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an enormous amount that needs to be done in order to adequately protect these species, and even my role was insufficient in keeping up with it all,\u201d said Gladstone.<\/p>\n
His story is not unique. A wildlife biologist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington DC, whose role included improving efficiency for environmental reviews related to endangered species, said most of their department was fired as probationary employees. They lost their job, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been understaffed. We don\u2019t have the funding to get the work done we need,\u201d the biologist said. \u201cAnd then, when we try to improve and get species to a recovery species so they are no longer listed [as endangered], it feels like all those efforts to get to recovery have been halted and set back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation \u201cfeels really hopeless\u201d, they added. \u201cIt is baffling to me, because so many people literally take these jobs because they care about the mission, they want to serve people, the land we live on, we want to protect, especially in my agency, species and natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scientists working to address the climate crisis and protect US food systems have also had their work halted with firings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work I do in particular is really indispensable,\u201d said a climate adaptation scientist with the US Geological Survey, who was fired as a probationary employee earlier this month. \u201cWe\u2019re not in a time where we can slow-roll climate research. We were focused on how the climate is changing and conducting scenario planning and forecasting to better use our resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the work they have done here in cutting positions left and right, with no considerations whether these people can adapt to the policies of this administration, or to the amount of effort it took to hire these people, and likely for some to get rehired, it is just promoting more government waste.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal government\u2019s scientific operation was \u201cjust being gutted\u201d, the scientist said. \u201cWe are going to fall behind other countries. This isn\u2019t the sort of thing you can pause or cut \u2026 It\u2019s not something that can be privatized. It\u2019s a wildly inefficient endeavor to do that requires consistent investment over decades, building teams and knowledge. It\u2019s essentially washing away any of the incentives for people to devote their careers and lives for the betterment of society.\u201d<\/p>\n
The office of special counsel has determined some of the firings of probationary employees carried out by the Trump administration are unlawful and has requested some employees be reinstated with backpay, turning over enforcement to the Merit Systems Protection Board and requesting a 45-day stay of the firings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration has interfered with life-saving medical research and meetings on cancer, vaccines, antibiotic resistance and more,\u201d said Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. \u201cThey have pulled funding for job-boosting technology initiatives and are working hard to fire civil servants who, for example, enforce laws that protect us from air and water pollution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the Trump administration is burying information that the US public has paid for and demolishing government functions we all depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Fish and Wildlife, the US Geological Survey and US Department of Agriculture did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
This article<\/a> by Michael Sainato was first published by The Guardian on 3 March 2025. Lead Image: A grizzly bear. Project 2025, the rightwing manifesto published ahead of last year\u2019s election, called for the delisting of the gray wolf and grizzly bear. Photograph: Gabriella Zsuzsanna Jenei\/Alamy.<\/i><\/p>\n Wildlife continues to face threats from overexploitation in the form of poaching and illegal trade in animal products, as well as a rapidly changing climate.<\/p>\n Due to growing threats, 70% of all animal and plant species are at risk of extinction by 2050.<\/p>\n With your donation, our conservation partners<\/a> can continue to motivate millions of people worldwide to take action that protects and preserves wildlife at risk.<\/p>\nWhat you can do<\/h2>\n