Wildlife, Wilderness, and the Wrecking Ball: Undoing decades... (#321)

A Relentless Retreat from Environmental Protection and Wildlife Conservation

The first 100 days of the current administration’s return to power have sent a clear signal: the federal government is turning its back on science-based conservation, environmental justice, and climate action.

In place of sound stewardship, we are witnessing the rapid dismantling of decades of environmental policy, institutional memory, and public health protection.

What’s being unraveled is not just policy.

It’s the promise of a livable planet for our grandchildren.

A Token Nod to Conservation

Amid widespread environmental rollbacks, a few headlines stand out, such as the creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in California, protecting over 624,000 acres of fragile desert habitat.

But these isolated gestures are far outweighed by policies that imperil public lands, wildlife, and ecosystems across the nation.

• In February 2025, the National Park Service fired 1,000 employees, only for two federal judges to later order their reinstatement, throwing parks into chaos as they prepare for peak visitation season.

• Simultaneously, the U.S. Forest Service saw a 10% workforce cut, and thousands more accepted resignation offers, leaving critical conservation projects stalled under frozen budgets.

Reconfigured Agencies, Privatized Priorities

Nowhere is the administration’s philosophy more apparent than in its reconfiguration of federal land agencies.

• Control of the Department of the Interior has effectively shifted to a new leadership circle influenced by DOGE, a tech-libertarian offshoot linked to a tech billionaire, while the administration floats proposals to sell off public lands under the guise of solving the housing crisis.

• At the same time, the White House has issued executive orders to streamline mining and oil and gas extraction, including on lands that were previously protected.

Clean Air in Jeopardy: What History Teaches Us

As a veteran environmentalist vividly described New York City in the 1960s:

“Black soot on the windowsill each morning, haze choking the long avenues, and the air thick with lead from buses and cars.”

Decades of regulation changed that. Emissions dropped. Public health improved.

But here’s the scary news. These gains can be lost.

With the administration’s sweeping sunset executive order threatening to automatically repeal hundreds of environmental regulations, there’s no guarantee those gains will hold.

Dismantling Science and Enforcement

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget faces a 65% cut, slashing it to its lowest level (inflation-adjusted) since the agency’s founding. Thousands of EPA scientists, analysts, and legal staff have been fired or pushed out. In a March memo, the agency announced it would no longer consider race or socioeconomic status in enforcement, removing critical protections for marginalized communities.

• Meanwhile, the administration suspended millions in environmental justice grants and eliminated the EPA’s EJ mapping tool (EJSCREEN), which allowed communities to track pollution burdens.

USDA Conservation Programs Stranded

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has become a frontline casualty.

• Under the administration’s Unleashing American Energy Order, the USDA immediately froze billions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act, money that was earmarked to help farmers adopt climate-smart practices.

• Tens of thousands of farmers were left stranded without funding or technical assistance. While the Agriculture Secretary has partially unfrozen funds, more than $2 billion remains owed to over 22,000 farmers. Lawsuits are now underway to recover those funds.

• Earlier this month, USDA canceled the $3 billion Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, replacing it with a narrower program that strips out far-left climate features.

• Similarly, Rural Energy for America Program funds will now only be awarded if applicants remove DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) goals.

• And in a particularly damaging blow to ecosystems, USDA issued an Emergency Situation Determination, opening up 110 million acres of forest to industrial timber interests.  A move that directly follows Trump’s executive order to increase timber production by 25%. Environmental groups warn this will accelerate the destruction of old-growth forests, making them more vulnerable to drought, disease, and wildfire.

Justice Erased Across Agencies

The rollback of environmental justice has spread across federal departments. For example:

• At Health and Human Services, all staff administering the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program were fired, halting support for millions who rely on heating and cooling subsidies.

• The CDC’s Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice lost 200 staff working on asthma, air pollution, and climate-linked illnesses.

• FEMA canceled its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program, cutting off funding for flood control, wildfire prevention, and climate-resilient infrastructure.

• The current Attorney General ordered the termination of all environmental justice offices and positions at the Department of Justice.

Wildlife in the Crosshairs

Meanwhile, iconic species and ecosystems are under direct threat.

• The Rice’s whale, with a population in the dozens, lost federal protections to appease oil drilling interests in the Gulf of Mexico.

• In California, new water rules endanger the Chinook salmon and Delta smelt.

And the Endangered Species Act itself faces hollowing from within.

Rick’s Commentary

In just 100 days, the administration has restructured public agencies, slashed environmental enforcement, halted climate programs, ignored vulnerable communities, and fast-tracked extractive industries.

This is not reform. This is erasure.

It is the methodical dismantling of 50 years of environmental policy, scientific progress, and public health safeguards.

Unless reversed, the consequences of dirty air, vanishing wildlife, poisoned water, forest loss, and an unlivable climate will not just affect today’s Americans.

The erasures will define the world our children inherit.

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