The abrupt opening of 95% of Refuge land, to hunting and trapping may cause problems, because the agencies involved laid off nearly 2000 experienced agents in 2025 alone, due to budget cuts.

 

US Fish and Wildlife Service Plans to Allow Hunting on 95% of Its Land

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PUBLISHED

MAY 27, 2026 AT 11:29 AM EDT

Those concerns are amplified by a staffing crisis: the Fish and Wildlife Service lost nearly 1,800 employees between 2024 and 2025, leaving far fewer rangers to manage and enforce the greatly expanded access.

Large elk and deer racks can bring over a $1000, and a typical elk can provide 500 pounds of excellent meat, as beef prices double, which is easy money, illegal though it may be, and enforcement will be few and far between in the forests that are no longer refuges and the animals are hunted with trail cameras, hunting dogs, planes and drones.0

Poaching will once again become profitable, with little risk of enforcement against bating, running down trophy animals with dogs, ATV’s and snowmobiles with no officers to enforce limits or night hunting with spotlights.

In the future we’ll look back on ‘the good old days’ when the forests held deer, elk and other game, before the Trumpies opened 95% of the refuges to hunting and trapping, for the profits of a few.