The Trump administration is reviewing hundreds of national wildlife refuges and dozens of fish hatcheries.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it's looking for sites "established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission" of the bureau, according to a Dec. 16 order from Director Brian Nesvik, who used to lead Wyoming's state wildlife agency.
He said the review should also consider "opportunities to achieve efficiencies in the areas of governance, oversight, and span of control," along with ways to remove organizational barriers and staff capacity to work with local communities and state and tribal wildlife management agencies.
Senior Advisor Joshua Coursey, a Wyoming mule deer advocate, will lead the review of wildlife refuges, while Acting Deputy Director for Operations David Miko will lead the one for fish hatcheries.
Some conservationists and former Fish and Wildlife Service employees worry the effort is being rushed, as the team leads were given three weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays to conduct their initial review.
"Such a large and important analysis should certainly be given more time and resources to develop a thoughtful and useful product," a group of retired Fish and Wildlife employees, including several high-ranking directors, wrote in an email to Nesvik, obtained by digital news outlet WyoFile.
"We would welcome more clarity from the FWS [Fish and Wildlife Service] about how it would proceed with any recommendations regarding refuges that, in the opinion of this Administration, no longer align with the Service's mission," the email continued.
Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the nonprofit the Center for Western Priorities, added that the review could be detrimental to visitors and habitats. He said wildlife refuges tend to be a "great equalizer" when it comes to people accessing public land.
"National parks can be more of an investment to get to both in terms of transportation, in terms of cost," Weiss told Wyoming Public Media. "Wildlife refuges tend to be free or inexpensive."
Refuges are also often smaller than national parks and more urban. One example is the Rocky Mountain Arsenal outside Denver, which used to make chemical weapons, and is now habitat for bison and black-footed ferrets.
Weiss is concerned the "comprehensive review" of sites like this could mean selling them off.
"So anything that comes out of this, the first question is, who's making money off this and who are greasing the wheels inside the Interior Department?" Weiss said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service didn't respond to a request for comment. It has said it's accepting feedback from staff and other partners about refuges and hatcheries.
An initial summary of "organizational change recommendations " was due Jan. 5. The more detailed review is due Feb. 15.
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