Wildlife refuges across South Florida that encompass more than 700,000 acres inhabited by some of the planet’s most threatened animals, from Key deer to Florida panthers, are having staffs slashed amid the wave of government layoffs.
At least six workers have been laid off, including biologists, at seven refuges from the Keys to Palm Beach County, sources said, shrinking already skeletal staffs.
”All of the federal staffing cuts for the national wildlife refuges, and especially mine, are killing us,” said Becca Bryan, president of Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge, which also supports the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, where endangered sea turtles come every year to nest on rare empty beaches. One of its two biologists was laid off.
“Now we have one biologist to cover that and anything else that happens in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge,” she said.
READ MORE: 'People are frightened': Sweeping Trump job cuts hit South Florida national parks
At Crocodile Lake in the Keys refuge system, where staff are battling invasive pythons and struggling to save endangered woodrats, a biologist was among the firings, along with an administrative staffer. The two made up a tiny staff of 10 managing a half million acres in the Keys’ four refuges.
“Six months ago our plea was for more employees, and that’s what we’d done for the last eight or 10 years,” said Ed Rhodes, a marine biologist and board member for the Florida Keys Wildlife Society. “Now we’re holding our breath to hang on to what we have.”
Earlier this week, WLRN reported that at least 20 scientists and rangers were laid off or retiring amid the cuts at South Florida’s national parks and Big Cypress National Preserve. That included half the team working on Everglades restoration at the South Florida Natural Resources Center in Everglades National Park.
The cuts come as national parks and refuges continue to struggle with massive maintenance backlogs and diminished staffs. They were among at least 2,300 layoffs made on Valentine’s Day in a mass emailing to Department of Interior employees.
The firings are part of a sweeping government downsizing outlined in more detail on Wednesday.
The refuge layoffs tallied by Bryan and other Friends groups include:
- One biologist and an administrative assistant who handled payroll and other tasks at the Florida Keys National Refuge System. It includes four refuges encompassing a half million acres from Key Largo to Key West, one of which was among the first areas to be designated a wildlife refuge in the early 1900s. The refuges protect pine rockland, mangrove forests and other vanishing habitat that provide habitat for nearly two dozen endangered species, including key deer and Miami Blue butterflies.
- One biologist, who represents a quarter of the staff, at the Florida Panther and Ten Thousand Island refuges encompassing 60,000 acres east and south of Naples. The panther refuge protects a critical corridor for wide-ranging panthers and includes two trails. The Ten Thousand Island refuge includes wintering grounds for endangered manatees and nesting islands for wading birds including endangered woodstorks.
- Three staffers at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which encompasses nearly 145,000 acres in Palm Beach County to protect the last remaining wild stand of the northern Everglades, sandwiched between sprawling sugarcane fields and booming coastal development. Today it markets itself as the nation’s largest urban refuge.
Nationwide, wildlife refuges operate as some of the leanest-staffed public lands. Most provide easy access to the public and can be less restrictive than national parks, allowing hunting.
Across the nation, more than 570 refuges protect about 96 million acres on land and 760 million acres of ocean and attract about 67 million visitors every year. In South Florida, refuges are hugely popular with anglers, paddlers, hikers and birders.
With such small staffs, they often rely on volunteers to help clear trails, clean beaches and maintain grounds.
In the Keys, Rhodes said the Keys Wildlife Society has purchased computers, trail cams and radio transmitters to track wildlife and even a python-sniffing dog. The Society also paid to install Wi-Fi for volunteer workers who man the visitor center and work 20-hour weeks in exchange for free RV camping.
The group raises about $100,000 yearly operating a small store at the Key Deer refuge. But with the cuts, he said, “we’re about to get meaner and leaner.”
Even with enthusiastic volunteers, Rhodes said nonprofits are still required to have refuge staff oversee work, which means fewer staff can lead to less volunteer hours. The work can also be grueling.
”You’re in the steaming hot South Florida heat,” Bryan said. “A lot of people just don't want to be out there for six hours building sea turtle nest protective covers.”
Last month, Rhodes said he and two other volunteers helped a biologist with the Key West refuge clean up tangled trap and anchor rope on remote Woman Key, more than 10 miles from Key West.
“We spent six hours trying to untangle fishing line from a mangrove tree being suffocated by line covering its roots,” he said. Eventually, they removed 900 pounds of line.
“Talk about someone who is dedicated and works hard,” he said. “She’s worked all around the world in wildlife settings and what a valuable asset. But she hasn’t worked for [the federal government] for very long and we think those kinds of people are vulnerable.”
To mark this year's Florida Panther Day, and show support for the refuges, the panther refuge is holding an open house with swamp buggy tours March 15.
Copyright 2025 WLRN Public Media