Seven former high-ranking Fish and Wildlife Service employees on Monday voiced their concerns over the agency’s newly ordered self-assessment of the nation’s wildlife refuges.
While supporting the idea of a refuge review, the retired FWS career leaders said they are alarmed about several potential problems, including the speed in which the agency intends to complete the assessment.
Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik last month ordered a top-to-bottom review of the nation’s wildlife refuges and related properties, including a request for what he termed “organizational change recommendations.” Nesvik had set Monday as an initial deadline.
“The time frame for the development of initial recommendations is very short — only 3 weeks, over the Christmas and New Year holidays, when many staff are on ‘use or lose’ leave,” the former employees wrote, adding that “such a large and important analysis should certainly be given more time and resources to develop a thoughtful and useful product.”
