Nature Under Trump

• National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) is the leading advocate for the Refuge System. 
• The National Wildlife Refuge System includes 570 wildlife refuges, 38 wetland management districts, and 5 marine national monuments. It plays a critical role in protecting our nations wildlife and ecosystems. 
• Comparing the Refuge System to its sibling (also understaffed) National Park Service:
  
  Refuge System = approx. 1,750 staff.   96 million acres (land). 
  National Parks =  approx. 18,000 staff.  84 million acres (land). 
• In fairness to Trump, the Refuge System has been severely understaffed for over a decade. From 2011 to 2024, total staffing dropped 24%, from 3,244 to 2,348 employees. Meanwhile, visitation surged 50% - from 45 million to 67 million visitors.
• But Trump has thrust the Refuge System staffing into a deep crisis. With layoffs and buyouts, he has cut staff an additional 25% to 1,750. And more staffing cuts could be in the works.
• Today, 10% of refuges are completely unstaffed and not a single refuge has the resources it needs to meet its mission. NWRA calculates that 7,330 full time staff are needed to adequately manage the Refuge System. 
• Call To Action: The big battle now is over the 2026 budget. Trump has proposed cutting the Refuge System's funding to $416 million, 22% below current levels. The NWRA is fighting for $731 million in funding. They are also fighting against future staffing cuts. They need all the help they can get. 

• In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order reinstating federal approvals for the Ambler Mining Road, a 211-mile industrial route through remote Alaskan roadless areas including Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. 
• The Biden administration had previously suspended the project due to environmental and tribal concerns. 
• The road would cut through sensitive caribou habitat and subsistence lands. 
• A coalition of nonprofits called Defend Brooks Range is vigorously opposing the project. 

• In February, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, under a Trump Executive Order, initiated a formal review of six national monuments — Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Escalante, Organ Mountains‑Desert Peaks, Ironwood Forest, Baaj Nwaavjo Kukveni (Grand Canyon), and Chuckwalla — to evaluate boundary reduction or outright elimination to unlock oil, gas, and mining development.
• On May 27, 2025, the Department of Justice issued a legal opinion asserting that the President can downgrade or entirely eliminate existing national monuments—a reversal of nearly a century of legal precedent.
• Nonprofit organizations are ringing the alarm bells that a move could be iminent to reduce or eliminate these national monuments. 
• A local conservation nonprofit champions each of these national monuments. Please support their efforts:

Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition - Bears Ears 

Grand Staircase Escalante Partners - Grant Staircase Escalante 

Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks - Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks

Friends of Ironwood Forest - Ironwood Forest 

Grand Canyon Trust - Baaj Nwaavjo Kukveni (Grand Canyon) 

Protect Chuckwalla National Monument - Chuckwalla 

• On May 9, 2025, Trump signed a proclamation lifting the restriction on commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
• Sitting 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, this monument covers 3.1 million acres of ocean.
• According to US Fish and Wildlife Service, "The Monument is know for its abundance of marine mammals, deep-sea corals, rich diversity of fishes, sea turtles, and seabirds."
• The Monument protects at least 10 dolphin species and 13 whale species including the endangered sperm whale, sei whale, and fin whale.
• The monument protects 4 underwater seamounts and 3 submarine canyons. 
•  New England-based nonprofits advocating for the monument include Conservation Law Foundation and New England Aquarium.

• ANWR was established in 1960 by Dwight Eisenhower. Today, it is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States System. 
• On March 20, 2025, The Department of the Interior announced plans to reinstate previously canceled oil and gas leases in the refuge's Coastal Plain.
• This move follows an executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, 2025, aimed at unleashing Alaska's resource potential.
• The order rescinds the Biden-era moratorium on drilling activities in the refuge.
• ANWR's Coastal Plain is an ecologically sensitive area and is vital habitat for the Porcupine caribou herd, among many other Arctic wildlife species. 
• Oil exploration could begin as soon as winter, 2025, according to reports. 
• This decision has sparked strong opposition from environmental groups and Indigenous communities, particularly the Gwich’in Nation, who view the area as sacred and essential to their way of life.
• Several environmental and Alaska Native groups - including the Gwich’in Steering Committee - have sued to stop oil and gas exploration in ANWR. 

• The Arbor Day Foundation, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, provides funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to nonprofits engaged in urban forestry projects. 
• The Trump Administration - citing a directive prohibiting DEI programs - cancelled $75 million in funding that was set to fund over 100 nonprofit urban tree planting initiatives. 
• An example of an affected project: The Alief Super Neighborhood Council which was set to receive $250,000 to plant thousands of trees in Alief, one of Houston’s most heat-stressed neighborhoods. 
• Other examples of cut funding - sixteen tribal organizations were awarded $8 million to support community forestry on Indigenous lands. 
• These funding cuts jeopardize the future viability of of tree planting projects and - in some cases - of entire organizations. 

• Established by Bush in 2009 and expanded by Obama in 2014, this National Marine Monument protects 490,343 square miles of ocean and five uninhabited island or atoll complexes, making it one of the largest marine preserves in the world.
• It protects fish populations, coral reefs, and deep-sea life found nowhere else on earth, as well as endangered and threatened wildlife, including sharks, rays, seabirds, blue whales, and the leatherback sea turtle.
• On April 17, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order that attempted to reopen the National Monument to commercial fishing.
• On May 22, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of Kāpaʻa, the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, and the Center For Biological Diversity against the Trump Administration, challenging its actions to open the National Monument to industrial fishing.
• The Pacific Island Heritage Coalition, a diverse coalition of cultural practitioners, scientists, and nonprofit organizations, has been the most active group in organizing public support for the monument over the years and now.

• At least 880 NOAA employees have been laid off with more terminations threatened. 
• The Administration has engaged in self-sabotaging acts like abruptly ending it's 40-year old, Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database. 
• Trump called for a 74% cut to NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in his 2026 budget proposal. 
• He also proposed elimination of NOAA's research laboratories and its 16 cooperative institutes involving 80 partner universities. 
• The good news - we can still stop the 2026 budget cuts since the budget should (hopefully) require bipartisan negotiation in order to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate for passage. 
• Union of Concerned Scientists has taken the lead in championing NOAA and opposing the Administration's dismantling of the agency.

• Since its founding in 2010, TerraCorps has placed volunteers in service roles doing trail building, invasive species control, youth education, and other critical work. 
• In 2024, TerraCorps placed 43 members in 11-month service terms supporting local conservation organizations 
• On April 25, Trump illegally terminated $400 million in funding for AmeriCorps resulting in the early termination of 32,000 AmeriCorps including all 43 members of TerraCorps.

Current Status

• On April 25, TerraCorp announced that they would be closing due to termination of their funding.  On June 5, a judge ordered the Trump Administration to restore federal funding to AmeriCorps. However, there has been no word from TerraCorps that it will be reopening. 

How To Help

• TerraCorps has set up an emergency assistance fund for terminated TerraCorps members in need. Please consider donating.

• USGS EMA includes 16 regional science centers, 43 cooperative research units on university campuses, 1,200 staff, and $326 million in 2024 funding. 
• Elimination of USGS EMA would be catastrophic for conservation. It would jeopardize the world's leading scientific research on endangered species, ecosystem health, wildlife disease, climate change impacts, and invasive species. 
• The professional societies in ecology - The Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society, and Ecological Society of America - are advocating very hard to prevent these cuts in the 2026 budget. 
• Please support their efforts. Follow them on social media and get involved with their advocacy activities. 

• Through USAID, the US provided critical funding to over 5,000 international conservation initiatives ($375 million in 2023). 
• Examples of USAID funded projects included efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking in Southeast Asia, preserve forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin, and protect marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle.
• The cuts end decades of U.S. leadership in global biodiversity protection, leaving critical habitats and endangered species with much less international support. 
• A judge ruled that the dismantling of USAID was unconstitutional but it doesn't look like the administration has unfrozen grant funding. 
• We recommend supporting nonprofits like World Wildlife Fund that have been leaders in international conservation fundraising and that partner with local efforts to protect biodiversity. 

• The ESA is the bedrock law for protecting endangered species and their habitat. Weakening the ESA would be catastrophically bad for conservation in the US. 
• Trump's proposed change to the ESA has initiated a rule making process. This opened up a public comment period that just closed on May 19, 2025. 
• Conservation nonprofits have rallied their base and 323,576 comments were received. Now we wait for the decision to be made. 
• Organizations like the Center for Biological Diversity are actively opposing these rollbacks. If the ESA is weakened, they will lead lawsuits opposing the changes. Please follow them on social media and consider donating to their efforts. 

• This project will restore degraded stream and forest ecosystems in NH. 
• Regional benefits will include improved water quality, ecosystem health, and climate resiliency. 
• Trump froze federal funding  for the project ($11,500,000). 
• Connecticut River Conservancy protects and restores the Connecticut River watershed in CT, MA ,NH, and VT. If you live in this region, please follow and support them.

• This project would restore the Little Conewago Creek floodplain back to its pre-settlement condition. 
• Project benefits would have included: mitigating flooding, eliminating land loss due to bank erosion, improving water quality, restoring critical habitat, and enhancing recreational opportunities. 
• Trump cancelled federal funding for the project ($5.8 million).
• Federal funding for the project was awarded from Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program.
• The $882 million BRIC grant program - established under Biden - helps communities prevent widespread damage from future flood events. 
• On April 4, FEMA terminated all BRIC grant funding calling them "wasteful." 
• The nonprofit, Choose Clean Water Coalition, is advocating for the restoration of funding for FEMA's BRIC program.

• Trump signed an executive order in March to fast-track mineral extraction on federal lands and avoid existing environmental protections. 
• Subsequently, a U.S. House panel approved legislation to overturn a 20-year mining moratorium in the Superior National Forest and reinstate canceled leases for the Twin Metals project, reigniting concerns over potential pollution in the watershed. 
• Multiple local organizations are working to oppose these actions including: Friends of the Boundary Waters, Save the Boundary Waters, and Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters. 

• The Trump Administration weakened the 107-year old Migratory Bird Treaty Act by issuing a memo that reinterprets the meaning of the law. 
• The administration is asserting that the law prohibits only intentional killings of migratory birds. The administration wants to exempt industries from penalties from avoidable bird deaths (AKA "incidental take") caused by activities such as oil drilling.
• According to National Audubon Society: "These protections from “incidental take” have successfully been implemented by both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades and have saved millions of birds, while helping maintain an annual $279 billion economic impact from birding, a pastime that 96 million Americans partake and invest in every year. This law is vital for the conservation of more than 1,000 species of birds, especially as populations have declined by 3 billion birds since 1970 across North America."

• The Trump administration has moved to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the lesser prairie-chicken, a grassland bird - known for its dancing mating rituals. 
• The lesser prairie-chicken's population has dropped to around 30,000 - a 97% decline since 1800. 
• The lesser prairie-chicken has lost approximately 85% of its available habitat due to oil and gas drilling, agriculture, and development. 
• The American Bird Conservancy is leading the advocacy and on-the-ground conservation efforts to protect and recover the lesser prairie-chicken.

• This project would restore and protect 3 miles of coastal shoreline and maritime habitats to improve local ecosystems and build stronger barriers against storm surges.
• Other project details included local workforce development, beach pollution control, and native plant production. 
• Trump cancelled federal funding ($11,200,000) that had previously been awarded. 
• You can help this project's future prospects, by supporting the lead local nonprofit RISE any way you can.

• Victory (for now). The House of Representatives removed the land sale provision before approving the tax cut legislation on May 21, 2025.
• Republicans added a provision to Trump's tax cut legislation that would set aside 460,000 acres of public lands to be sold off to local government and private entities. This land would likely be slated for housing, energy, and mineral development. 
• The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is one of many conservation organizations that rallied opposition to this harmful action. 

• Update: Grant Funding for the project has been unfrozen due to a court order. 
• This project uses beetles to control the invasive Leafy Spurge which has become a major problem along the Yampa River. 
• The project was supposed to be conducted with Dinosaur National Monument. 
• Grant funding totaling $$539,174 for the project was frozen by the Trump administration. 

• So far, roughly 13% of NPS staffing has been reduced from the federal hiring freeze, layoffs, and buyouts. Additional reductions in workforce have been planned which would further reduce NPS staffing levels. 
• For 2026, Trump has proposed over $1 billion in funding cuts to NPS operations and grants program. This would be a 30% drop from 2025 levels and would likely result in the closing of many park units. 
• Hand-in-hand with these cuts, Trump has also proposed transferring control of some parks to the states. 
• On May 25, 2025, the House passed a reconciliation bill (Trump's big beautiful bill) that eliminates $267 million in NPS funding that was approved under the Inflation Reduction Act. 
• The bill now goes to the Senate where that funding could be restored - if we make enough noise! 
• National Parks Conservation Association is the leading advocacy organization specifically for the National Park Service.