Don't close Long Island's Fish and Wildlife office
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Valley Stream office is on a list of federal agencies targeted for closure by DOGE. Credit: Newsday / Howard Schnapp
The initiative to close the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Valley Stream by the Department of Government Efficiency does not bode well for an already beleaguered agency responsible for fish and wildlife protection in the United States [“LI Fish and Wildlife office among dozens on DOGE chopping block,” News, March 20].
According to the USFWS website, recent cutbacks in the agency have resulted in the loss of 720 employees, including support staff, special agents, and wildlife inspectors who enforce laws protecting federally protected wildlife.
The Northeast Region of the USFWS, which encompasses Maine to Virginia, including Long Island, and administered from its Hadley, Massachusetts headquarters, has seen its regional enforcement staff decrease by nearly 50%.
In New York State, wildlife inspectors responsible for monitoring the import and export of protected and endangered fish and wildlife, primarily through Kennedy Airport, have seen a staff of 20 cut to nine at the Valley Stream office, an essential location for administering permits and inspections for federally protected species.
Similarly, the special-agent force has decreased regionally from approximately 40 to 20 agents with only five assigned to Long Island, where they support the federal inspection program, investigate major wildlife crimes, and protect public lands, including federal refuges, seven of which are on Long Island.
The USFWS already has been operating on a shoestring budget, so it is hard to understand how further cutbacks can be justified.
— Tim Huss, Islip
The writer retired as an officer in the state Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Law Enforcement.
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. Just go to newsday.com/submitaletter and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to letters@newsday.com. Submissions should be no more than 200 words. Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every 45 days. Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.
