DOGE cuts impact Bay Area wildlife refuge

Park rangers lose jobs due to federal cuts

FOX 13’s Jennifer Kveglis speaks with one of two park rangers at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge who have been terminated as a result of federal cuts.

CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. - Sweeping federal workforce cuts are trickling down to the Tampa Bay area. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge is now operating at 50% staffing after two park rangers were terminated on Friday.

The backstory:

This comes after the Trump Administration announced last week that terminations were taking place at multiple agencies.

The president has tapped billionaire businessman Elon Musk to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been tasked with finding and prioritizing what to cut.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which operates under the Department of Interior, is included in those cuts. USFWS oversees the refuge.

What they're saying:

Brier Ryver is one of those terminated rangers.

"I fear that the community will see some of these impacts and think that this is our fault," Ryver said. "There just are not enough people for all of the work that they do at the refuge."

The refuge is a 32,000-acre complex that runs from Tampa Bay to Crystal River.

Brier Ryver is among the rangers at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge whose jobs were terminated.

"So it's Crystal River, there's Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, Egmont Key passage in Pinellas," Ryver said.

In addition to Three Sisters Springs, which is a mainstay for the local tourism industry during the winter.

"During the winter and the peak months in the cold days, we'll have upwards of 500–600 manatees here in the bay and 800 in the coastal areas. We have a lot of kayakers, a lot of boaters, a lot of fishermen," K.C. Nayfield, President of Friends of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said.

Federal job cuts are impacting the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

Ryver began working at the refuge in April 2024 and was in a new-hire probationary period, which is policy for the park. They said the staffing at the refuge was already spread thin.

"... with 8 staff members, given that we needed 12 to be fully-staffed, it was still so much," Ryver said. "You could go from rescuing a manatee in the morning to trying to manage visitor conflict at Three Sisters."

Friday was a massive shakeup. Ryver and another park ranger were asked to participate in a virtual meeting.

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"It ended up being a meeting with nationwide Fish and Wildlife employees where they told us this was not performance-based, but we have all been released from our positions effective at the close of business Friday," Ryver said.

Ryver said the news caught them off guard.

"It's been a stressful time with the reductions in force. That would have been something I could have prepared for. I am just doing a mad scramble trying to find something and that means a lot of sleepless nights," Ryver explained.

Federal job cuts are impacting the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

Ryver worked at the Visitor Center. The other terminated employee was the coordinator for more than 200 volunteers.

"My coworker was also a visitors services specialist; she coordinated the volunteers. She would get dozens of emails every day trying to get new training," Ryver said. "I wish we were still there to help."

Ryver and the other employee coordinated the programs at the refuge, including bird tours, native plant tours, historical tours, and manatee tours.

"Specifically with Crystal River, I know we had every single day of the week, we had at least one or two programs at Three Sisters Springs, especially at peak season," Ryver said.

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What's next:

It's unclear how those programs will operate moving forward.

"It's going to be very tough," Nayfield said. "They were an integral part of making sure the refuge ran smoothly, efficiently, and effectively," he said, "Working without them is going to put a further stress on an already short staff and crew."

An estimated 2,300 USFWS employees have been terminated in the past week.

The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.

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