The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and many other federal agencies felt the sting of mass firings of employees in just a few hours throughout the United States. On February 14, 2025 the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge staff did not lose any employees due to these cuts. Unfortunately, we have been warned by The National Wildlife Refuge Association that more cuts maybe coming.
Today we embrace our neighbor islands in Hawai'i and the wild places they care for that were hit the hardest last month including on the island of Kaua'i where the public can visit an albatross colony and where mammalian non-native predators can be kept in check, that is, until now. Safina Center Conservationist-in-Residence Hob Osterlund describes the chain of events that happened within the Hawaiian Islands and beyond in her article Sudden and Surreal.
In the meantime, your donations can help triage the critical wildlife protection work in the Hawaiian Archipelago at: Friends of Kaua'i Refuges and Friends of Hakalau Forest. Coming soon a Friends of Midway Atoll advocacy webpage will keep tabs on the latest impacts in Hawai'i and we will list specific and easy ways to help!
while Wisdom keeps her chick warm. Photo by Dan Rapp
Article written by Ann Bell