The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Southwest Regional Office announced today it will reorganize its Refuge System workforce in the face of increasing operating costs and increasing conservation needs. The work-force plan consists of a mix of cost-savings measures over a three year period to obtain a desirable budget ratio of 80 percent salary to 20 percent operating expenditures. Permanent staff reductions are planned as personnel costs consume a hefty portion of the budget.
Since 2001, funding for the Refuge System has increased from $300 million to $383 million in fiscal year 2006. However, the increase has been directed to specific priorities such as invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species control, borderland security and maintenance needs at specific refuges.
The Southwest Region will be eliminating 38 positions during the next three years; classifying refuges into one of three tiers based on each refuges habitat management needs, visitation, and law enforcement requirements; grouping four refuges into two complexes; and using maintenance teams to complete small construction projects. Reductions will occur through retirement, attrition and relocation to ensure refuges have the appropriate expertise. Staffing reductions will also occur in the Regional Office located in Albuquerque with the savings to be directed to the field stations.
The Southwest Region is comprised of 45 refuges located in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and contains 2.86 million acres of habitat that attracts a variety of wildlife. These refuges are part of the larger National Wildlife Refuge System that is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Altogether there are 547 refuges with nearly 100 million acres.
"We want to ensure a natural resource legacy for future generations. Regardless of future budget outcomes, these strategic decisions to better manage the workforce and prioritize refuge needs over the next three years are important to accomplishing the mission of the Refuge System," said Chris Pease, Chief of National Wildlife Refuges in the Southwest. "We want refuges to survive and thrive ensuring the long-term conservation of important habitat for fish and wildlife."
The workforce plan is available on the internet at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/index.html or by calling 505-248-6911.
Tiered Refuges:
All Southwest Refuges have been grouped into one of three tiers. Tier 1 is composed of Focus Refuges, which tend to have the largest landholdings, diverse habitats, rare fish and wildlife species and offer extensive visitor services programs. In return they will be expected to have a full range of staff in a variety of disciplines and will support Tier 2 and Tier 3 stations.
"Weve created three strategic tiers of refuges which clarifies the roles that individual refuges play in terms of habitat management, visitation, and law enforcement needs, and have structured the staffing needs accordingly," said Pease.
Tier 2 are the refuges targeted for staff reductions; however, these refuges with retain staff and support to conduct the basic refuge management and maintenance. Some visitor services will be offered such as wildlife viewing and interpretation and special events.
Tier 3 are the unstaffed refuges and tend to be of a size that does not require extensive habitat manipulation to achieve wildlife objectives. While the refuges may be opened for visitors for special events or for self-directed tours, there will not be staff on-site. Staff from a neighboring Tier 1 or 2 refuge will manage these refuges.
Changes by State:
In Arizona, Focus Refuges (Tier 1) are Buenos Aires, Cabeza Prieta, Kofa/Imperial and Bill Williams. Kofa and Imperial will be combined into a complex and share many of the same staff. San Bernardino, Havasu and Cibola fall into Tier 2. Leslie Canyon is a Tier 3.
In New Mexico, Bosque del Apache is the sole Tier 1 refuge. Two refuges in the northeast corner, Las Vegas and Maxwell, will share staff as a Tier 2 complex. Other Tier 2 refuges include Bitter Lake and San Andres. Grulla on the eastern border is a Tier 3 refuge.
Salt Plans, Ozark Plateau and Wichita Mountains are Oklahomas Focus Refuges. Sequoyah, Deep Fork, Little River, Tishomingo and Washita are Tier 2 while Optima is the only Tier 3 refuge.
Texas has already complexed several of its refuges; these complexes are included as Focus Refuges. Focus Refuges include Laguna Atascosa, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Santa Ana, Aransas, Matagorda Island, Brazoria, San Bernard, Big Boggy, Anahuac, McFaddin, Texas Point, Moody, Attwater Prairie Chicken, and Balcones Canyonlands. Tier 2 includes Trinity River, Hagerman, Muleshoe, Caddo Lake and Buffalo Lake. Little Sandy and Neches River fall into the Tier 3 group.
The Southwest Regions workforce plan is part of larger effort nationally to strategically manage the nations Refuge System. Each regional office was tasked with finding ways to balance salary and operational costs to maintain workable ratios.
"If the Service and the Refuge System do not act decisively now, it will spend the next few years reacting," said Pease. "By instituting these cost-saving measures, we can better address our conservation mission."
The National Wildlife Refuge System helps to conserve, manage, and restore fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats, as well as provide quality wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities that foster wildlife conservation for the enjoyment of future generations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. Visit the Services website at http://www.fws.gov.
