It is reassuring, however, that environmental activist groups have already taken legal action to thwart efforts to gut the government’s conservation and wildlife protection projects. On Thursday, the Center for Biological Diversity announced that it has sued the Trump administration for failing to release public records about mass firings at NOAA. At least 600 people were fired in February, and the center wants to understand how that will impact the health of the oceans.
“The rash and irresponsible firings at NOAA will have enormously damaging consequences for ocean life and people deserve to know the full extent of it,” Mark Patronella, oceans attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. “Trump has sacked scientists who protected endangered species, surveyed fish populations and restored habitat, but the truth behind NOAA’s dismantling needs to be out in the open. So many whales, sea turtles and corals are already struggling to survive and Trump’s attack on NOAA has cut huge holes in their safety net.”
In March, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted public records requests for the work plans of each fired employee, aiming to quantify the impact of the mass firings on ocean conservation. The Administration has failed to respond.
While it remains to be seen just how much commercial fishing might encroach on protected territory, it’s not ideal to have fewer scientists on the government payroll as restrictions are rolled back. There are over 165 endangered and threatened species within NOAA’s jurisdiction—including within the boundaries of marine monuments. And they’ve just gotten a lot more vulnerable.