SARATOGA—”Chaos.”
That was the single word a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee landed on to describe what life and work have been like at the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery since an offer for “deferred resignation” landed in his and thousands of other Wyoming residents’ inboxes in early February.
One of the facilities that has enabled the federally endangered Wyoming toad to stave off extinction, the 110-year-old hatchery was already in a period of transition before the chaos set in. Its supervisory biologist, Lee Bender, had recently retired, so a newcomer took the lead rearing hordes of rainbow, brown and other types of trout bound for lakes in the Wind River River Indian Reservation and fishing ponds outside of Cheyenne’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base to entertain angling airmen.
The transition meant the new supervisor was in a “probationary” employment status with the federal government. Like an untold number of other Wyoming residents, the Saratoga hatchery’s supervisor became another casualty of the Trump administration’s embrace of billionaire Elon Musk’s aggressive downsizing initiative spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency, also known by its acronym DOGE. It’s an effort to rapidly streamline the federal government through layoffs of tens of thousands of employees everywhere from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the National Park Service.
Within some Republican Party circles the purge has been celebrated, complete with chainsaw-wielding viral moments. Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis lauded Musk’s work in a speech at the statehouse on the same day that a wave of federal employees in the Equality State lost their jobs.
But on the ground in Wyoming, the indiscriminate firings look like a Bridger-Teton National Forest staffer losing his post-retirement health insurance plan and, in Saratoga, a fish hatchery supervisor packing up and bidding new colleagues goodbye just two weeks into a new job and life in Carbon County.
“I feel sorry for him,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee in Saratoga said.
The employee spoke on the condition of anonymity, which WyoFile granted because of the potential for retribution.
Keeping the hatchery afloat
WyoFile visited the facility on Thursday, investigating a tip that the hatchery was losing its entire staff because of the federal government workforce turmoil. Multiple requests for information to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s regional office in the Denver metro area yielded no responses. After the reporting trip, a public affairs officer from that office reached out and asked for written questions, but no responses were received by the time this story was published.
Right now, two staffers and an intern are still trying to maintain the 120-acre Saratoga National Fish Hatchery site, which includes 10 buildings that house thousands of trout of various age classes in addition to a breeding facility for the imperiled Wyoming toad.
“We’re keeping things going, you know,” the Fish and Wildlife Service employee said. “Just trying to do the bare minimum to keep things going.”
Being fully staffed at times in the past has meant up to four full-time workers plus another part-timer. It’s unclear how long the Saratoga hatchery’s two remaining employees will last. One of them accepted Musk’s “Fork in the Road”-branded “deferred resignation” offer, which promised pay and benefits through the end of September in exchange for walking away from the job. As of last week, the employee still hadn’t received word on whether the government had accepted their resignation — and when they’d be totally done.
As many as 8,100 Wyoming residents — the state’s entire federal workforce — received the offer. It’s unclear if the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery’s other remaining employee took the deal, or is leaving for another reason.
“I think he did, but I really don’t know,” the Fish and Wildlife Service employee said.
Another federal worker who was on site Thursday at the Saratoga National Fish Hatchery declined an interview for this story.
Even if the other person stays on, running the hatchery with a single staffer assisted by an intern would be a great challenge, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service employee who did consent to an interview.
“They’re going to have to start taking shortcuts, and they’re going to have to start making decisions,” the worker said. “I don’t think it’s going to impact things right away, like fish stocking. But it’s hard to say.”
Steep losses
The turmoil and unintended consequences that Musk’s hastily launched DOGE is inflicting upon Wyoming cuts across agencies charged with stewarding land, water and wildlife spread across a state that’s nearly half owned and administered by the federal government.
“Clearly this direction is coming from somebody who doesn’t understand how government works,” said a different federal employee in Wyoming who’s employed by the U.S. Forest Service. “People [employees] are frustrated, dismayed, about the continual attacks.”
WyoFile agreed to grant the source anonymity.
Over the weekend, Musk threatened federal workers in Wyoming and nationwide would lose their jobs if they didn’t respond to an email demanding they list in bullet-point format five things they accomplished last week. Employees were given until the end of Monday to comply.
Wyoming’s federal government employees, the Forest Service staffer said, are “very concerned about losing public land and what that means for everybody: our permittees, people who recreate on the forest [and] everyone who gets products from the forest.”
Muzzled by the Trump administration’s leadership, federal agencies have not disclosed job-loss figures and are responding to media inquiries and questions with copy-and-pasted statements. But job losses within some agencies are setting up to be steep.
The 3.4-million-acre Bridger-Teton National Forest, which manages a land area roughly the size of Connecticut, has been forced to shed over 40 of its full-time staff, according to a Forest Service employee familiar with the losses. That’s just the latest blow to a federal land manager that’s watched its budget, staffing and infrastructure erode for more than a decade.
“People [employees] are frustrated, dismayed, about the continual attacks.”
U.S. Forest Service staffer
Some ranger districts within Wyoming’s seven national forests have been hit harder than others, and many have sustained losses that will inhibit their ability to function effectively and accomplish tasks like OK’ing permits.
In Saratoga, the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest’s Brush Creek/Hayden Ranger District oversees the Sierra Madre Range and west side of the Snowy Range. The district, which is staffed by a dozen or so non-fire staff, lost three or four full-time employees, including a wildlife biologist and a recreation specialist, according to a different U.S. Forest Service employee familiar with the cuts.
Economic consequences
The losses of federal jobs in the Carbon County town could reverberate economically. A Saratoga timber mill that’s dependent on Medicine-Bow commercial logging could have less cut timber to process because Musk’s effort has pushed out Forest Service staffers needed to OK sales under federal law.
“People from wildlife need to sign off on [a sale], for example,” the federal government employee familiar with the Medicine-Bow cuts said. “We can’t sell a timber sale or put it out to bid until we get those surveys done.”
Across the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — which manages the Saratoga hatchery — approximately 370 employees were terminated during the initial thrust of layoffs, according to the National Wildlife Refuge Association.
“Losing this many dedicated employees all at once is an especially devastating blow to conservation efforts nationwide and an intentional dismantling of science,” Association President and CEO Desirée Sorenson-Groves said in a statement. “The National Wildlife Refuge System was already underfunded and understaffed. The people being fired today are the backbone of wildlife protection in this country.”
The Trump administration’s pick to helm the Fish and Wildlife Service, who will have to make do with the thinner workforce, is a Wyomingite: Brian Nesvik, the recently retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department director. To date, his former colleagues at Game and Fish have not been called in to assist with keeping the lights on and the fish alive at the Saratoga hatchery — but they’ll be at the ready, if it comes to it.
“I think that our folks, we’d help out any way we could if it becomes necessary,” Wyoming Game and Fish Department Fisheries Chief Alan Osterland told WyoFile. “The hatchery has been a part of that community for a long time, and hopefully it’ll stay that way.”
Angus M. Thuermer, Jr. contributed to this story.
The hatchery at Saratoga was the first one I ever saw. I was maybe 4, and was fascinated by the whole process. They have only improved over the years, with highly educated people making sure that Wyoming’s reservoirs and lakes have enough fish for sportsmen.
As federal services of all kinds, all appropriated by Congress, are dismantled by this out of control administration, we will find out how much our government has been quietly doing to protect us, our water, our atmosphere, and our land, and to make life more pleasant for us all.
Uhm they didn’t vote for this duh. Making Merica an Idiocracy.
Meanwhile, Musk-rat secured another multi million dollar government contract. Add that to the $22 Billion he has collected from the American taxpayer.
Musk should take the first rocket to Mars. We’d all win then.
Condolences to the federal civilian employees and their families in Wyoming. You merited civilized treatment, but cruelty is the point of the co-presidents mostly illegal budget cutting. Wyoming voters, you’re receiving what you voted for.
Where’s this helter-skelter dismantling of the federal government going? Look at the photo at the top of this article. The co-presidents model is Argentine president Milei, in the photo. Milei slashed that nation’s budget. The result in Argentina – the country’s exchange traded fund and bank stocks went way up, their rich became wealthier, yet their poor became more impoverished — AND Argentina is in its 5th consecutive quarter of recession.
The whole DOGE is ILLEGAL. Only Congress can create a department; it can’t be done by Executive Order. And, until House Republicans take back control of the legislative branch, this kind of madness will continue. Go ahead and look for ways to cut waste and inefficiency, but do it in an orderly and planned way.
I agree with pretty much everyone who has commented so far. I am angry with multi wealthy millionaires and billionaires who have never had to worry about having a paycheck in order to pay the bills plus have enough money for at least some entertainment, just firing people at will with no consideration to how these people will get by with no income. With no evaluation on how important the work they do is. I am extremely disgusted with politicians that just go along because it is Trump and his sidekick. Beware if you or your son or daughter have recently graduated from college and found a good job with the government, the job may disappear with no consideration to you at all. Or if you thought you had left an old job and upgraded yourself with a new job with the federal government only to find out you are now a probationary employee no matter how long you have been with the government. Not to mention all these people will be adding to the unemployment count in the U.S. And organizations like Saratoga National Fish Hatchery that rely on government funding and have anything to do with the betterment of the environment seem to have a target on them. Wait to see what a disaster Yellowstone and Grand Teton will be this summer if DOGE gets their way.
The consequences of this hatchery being eliminated or made less productive may not be felt by anglers for several years. This could affect the enjoyment of anglers and affect the bottom line of sporting goods stores. I hope that all affected are aware of this and are able to react.
Actually. If we have to keep stocking fish. Than that REALLY indicates greatly over fished fisheries. Time to shut fishing down and let lakes, streams rebuild on their own. We just can’t keep this endless parade of circus’s continue. It a false economy
Larry, most fish are stocked in reservoirs where there is no or very little reproduction. Stocking fish in these waters greatly increases fishing opportunities.
No need trying to educate as it is easier to talk to a wall but thanks for trying.
Not really Gordon. To high of fish population in waters greatly stresses the fish out. Stocking is well known to spread disease as well. Fish like other animals know the max population and adjust so. Majority of these man made waters have no spawning grounds. To high of fish population adds to fish waste overload. That in turn is food for green algae’s and invasive water plants. They use the fish waste as food to grow. Also in winter time too many fish deplete oxygen. So massive die off starts. No time to cut down stocking of fish
It looks like you proved Mr. Krassin right.
Could the closing of this fishery affect tourism as many people come here to fish. This could be a large loss in revenue for the state
What about the neglect and suffering of the animals if no one is there to care for them? That’s not just unethical—it’s illegal. At the very least, the State of Wyoming should step in to manage this facility. But beyond that, immediate action is needed to protect these animals. Volunteers and organizations must be allowed in to ensure their care until a long-term solution is found. Abandoning these operations isn’t just cutting costs—it’s abandoning a responsibility.
This is a BS article that shows how government refuses to be efficient. Federal employees can’t come up with 5 things they do a week is pathetic and shows we don’t need many of them. All you people didn’t have the same energy when Clinton purged the federal government in the 90s are beyond a joke at this point.
The Internet was in it’s infancy back then. People didn’t have options to publish their thoughts like they do today. I’m sure there was uproar, you just didn’t hear it. And I didn’t think it’s about providing 5 things you did last week, it’s the treatment these federal employees are receiving. They already answer to someone (or they did before that someone was laid off). They are already being held accountable, just like we all answer to a boss/supervisor. But it’s still the way the layoffs happened; anyone who was in a probationary role was let go. Without warning. I know folks who were in this field for 10, 15, 20 years, recently promoted (which warrants automatic probation per government regulation) that were let go in a mass email. Shameful.
America’s Semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from a proclaimed monarch is on July 4, 2026. I pray we’ll still be a free and independent nation, governed by the Rule, the Reign, of our Laws, not the whims of an unelected bedlamite.
Just wondering how many in this hatchery, at the BLM, in the Forest Service, the Park Service, etc. voted for Trump. I remember how proud this great state was when the news broke that Wyoming voted for Trump by the widest margin in the country. Just wait until medicaid and social security hit the chopping block in this gray state. I guess we are owning the libs, so we have that.
WY over-whelming voted for Trump. Cowboy up and take your lumps.
You got me all wrong…I own my own business and am about to pay nothing in property tax, I will soon get tax payer money to not have to teach my kids anything about history or reproduction or math and I will soon be able to buy up a couple of acres of formerly public land and put up some barbed wire. You think I care about how any of this affects my neighbors? Lol. COWBOY UP!
When I see statements about our elected representatives cheering on the work of Elon Musk at the expense of our own neighbors and friends losing their livelihoods, I can only say it is time for our representatives to lose their jobs. This is not a laughing matter and should not be “cheered” while you, Senator Lummis” should be trying to protect your constituents jobs. Same for Representative Hagerman and Senator Barrasso.
These politicians are just simply too worried about losing their own jobs too care for anybody else’s jobs. Just ask Elizabeth Cheney.
Thanks Jim, I wondered the same thing. Why are our 3 blockhead US representatives cheering on the losing of good paying jobs, with good benefits, in our state? God knows that unless you work in fossil fuel extraction, it is hard to find a well paid job in our state. These people and jobs are not the problem, or the cause of our national debt – as DJT plans to hand out another $5T in tax breaks to his billionaire buddies.
I sure that our congress members have reduced the size of their staff in keeping with the spirit of the cuts which they seem to all claim are necessary to cut government waste.
I rather doubt that.