Utah's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has lost 26 employees since 2024, a 35% staffing decline, according to federal data obtained by a conservation group.

The data, gathered through a public records request by Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, was reported by the Utah News Dispatch, which republished reporting by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Nationally, the agency dropped from nearly 10,000 staffers in 2024 to just over 6,300. Among the 3,600 positions lost were 1,900 scientists, including biologists, foresters and wildfire managers.

The cuts hit hard across the West. New Mexico lost 47% of its USFWS staff. Colorado lost 41%. Arizona lost 45%. Utah's 35% decline matched Idaho's and trailed Alaska's 36% and California's 36%.

Staff reductions stemmed from buyouts, early retirements and cuts tied to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Service, a commission President Donald Trump created to reduce federal spending, according to the Utah News Dispatch. The Oregon Capital Chronicle reported that USFWS spokespersons at the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters did not respond to multiple emails, and the agency's contact center phone line was nonfunctional.

"This brain drain will be hard to undo now that the Fish and Wildlife Service has lost so many expert scientists," Greenwald said in a Sept. 3 news release.

The agency plays a role in local conservation work. USFWS was one of four partners in a Sept. 1-2 treatment on Mill Creek in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, where the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources poured Rotenone into 3 miles of the creek to eliminate illegally introduced brook trout and restore native Bonneville cutthroat trout, according to the Deseret News. The U.S. Forest Service and Trout Unlimited also participated.

Chris Crockett, Central Region aquatics manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said in a Sept. 3 press release that the treatments aim to build a cutthroat trout population that would help prevent the species from being listed under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss and competition from non-native trout have caused steep declines in Bonneville cutthroat populations across the West, according to the division. A second Mill Creek treatment may occur later in September or be scheduled for fall 2027.

Separately, the Central Wasatch Commission in June approved funding for 12 projects aimed at stewarding the canyon ecosystem, including the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation's watershed education program and a habitat restoration effort in the Tri-Canyons area. Emily Gray, Holladay City councilor and chair of the commission's Short-Term Projects Committee, said in a June 24 press release that the projects align with the community's commitment to preserving the mountains. Those grants are state and local funds, not federal.

No timeline for restoring USFWS staffing levels has been announced.