Wildlife refuges reduce staff, combine efforts

BOISE – Money saving cuts to national wildlife refuges in Idaho will result in reducing staff by about a third, combining management offices for some refuges and limiting public access to some areas, officials said.

“We have serious impacts on staffing,” Dick Munoz, project leader for the Southeast Idaho National Wildlife Refuge Complex, told the Idaho Statesman.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this month announced cuts to the wildlife refuge system because of a $2.5 billion budget shortfall.

Nationally, the agency is planning to cut 565 jobs from wildlife refuges by 2009 – a 20 percent reduction.

The national refuge system encompasses 547 wildlife refuges and more than 96 million acres in all 50 states, attracting more than 40 million visitors a year.

In Idaho, there are six national wildlife refuges and a waterfowl production area containing about 84,000 acres that draw about 50,000 visitors a year.

To save money, the Idaho system will leave vacant eight of its 28 positions as they become open.

Todd Fenzl said he is retiring because of the cuts. As deputy manager, he has patrolled Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Idaho, doing waterfowl counts and checking hunters.

“There’s not enough personnel to patrol the area, which has problems with vandalism, trash and ‘undesirable activity,’ ” Fenzl said.

Some are concerned that reduced patrols at refuges could detract from the experience refuges offer.

“This is a place where you can get the kids out of the house and away from the computers to get fresh air and see wildlife,” said Dianna Ellis, manager of the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge near Bonners Ferry.

To save money, management of the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge near Rupert in southern Idaho will be moved to the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in Nampa.

Also, management offices for the Camas National Wildlife Refuge, Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Oxford Slough Waterfowl Production Area will be moved from Chubbuck to the Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Montpelier in southeastern Idaho.

Cuts could also lead to reduced hunting opportunities on the refuges.

“These are special places,” said Daniel R. Patterson, southwest director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national alliance of local, state and federal resource professionals. “These are cuts on top of cuts.”

President Bush has requested about $398 million for the National Wildlife Refuge System for the next budget year, a $12 million increase over current spending but far short of what is needed, critics say.

The agency estimates it needs a $15 million annual increase to keep pace with inflation, and a much larger amount to work away at the $2.5 billion backlog for maintenance and operations.