Black-footed ferrets, once feared extinct, were rediscovered in Wyoming in 1981 when a ranch dog caught one, revealing a small remaining population. Over the past four decades, scientists have been working to revive this prairie carnivore that's part of the weasel family. However, last month, their efforts suffered a blow.
Tina Jackson, who led the species’ recovery across 12 states–including Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona–was fired as part of the Trump Administration’s federal workforce cuts.
“It was an odd day,” said Jackson. “I’ve never been fired from a role before.”
Jackson was a probationary employee because she took the job as the national recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year. But before that, she’d spent nearly 30 years as a wildlife biologist at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with much of that time working on ferret conservation.
The federal government considers the black-footed ferret to be one of the most endangered mammals in North America. It was among the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act and remains critically endangered. Jackson was deeply aware of her role in their recovery.
“You're the one kind of in charge of this species that's still, honestly, on the brink of extinction,” she said.
Jackson’s job involved coordinating recovery efforts, securing permits for conservation work and overseeing the reintroduction of captive ferrets to 15 wild sites in partnership with federal and state agencies, tribes and nonprofit organizations.
“We're losing that nexus, that glue, that holds all of us together,” said Travis Livieri, executive director of Prairie Wildlife Research, a nonprofit that works on ferret conservation in South Dakota.
Additionally, two of Jackson’s colleagues at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center near Fort Collins, Colo. were also let go. The 11-member team suddenly shrunk to eight at a critical time–just as ferrets begin breeding season.
“Every time there's a setback of some sort, whether it's a biological setback, a disease outbreak, a budget cut or a staffing cut, it's something that sets back recovery,” Jackson said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it does not comment on personnel matters.
“We are working closely with the Office of Personnel Management to ensure we are prioritizing fiscal responsibility for the American people,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Black-footed ferret conservation requires hands-on attention
Though slender, black-footed ferrets are feisty predators. This is particularly useful since they are about the same size as prairie dogs, which make up 90% of their diet.
The ferrets also take up residence in the burrows dug by prairie dogs, sharing the space with other creatures like foxes, turtles and rattlesnakes. Because of this, Jackson refers to them as an “umbrella species”; their conservation helps other animals in the prairie ecosystem.
“By protecting that prairie dog habitat for ferrets, we're keeping a whole bunch of other species from needing state or federal listing,” Jackson said.
However, ferret conservation is hands-on and labor-intensive. At the Fort Collins center, which houses about two-thirds of the captive population, staff provides round-the-clock feeding, cleaning and veterinary care. During breeding season, they carefully monitor the pairs, as the territorial animals can sometimes kill one another. By late summer, the center may have up to 500 ferrets on its watch, as it prepares about 200 for reintroduction into the wild.
With fewer staff, Jackson noted, the team might need to limit their breeding capacity, which could undermine partner organizations’ efforts to establish reintroduction sites.
One of the biggest threats to ferrets in the wild is the plague, which often requires annual disease mitigation. But federal funding uncertainty is complicating this part of the recovery process, too.
Livieri’s organization had planned to start spraying insecticide dust in April to eliminate the fleas that carry the plague, but he’s not sure whether he’ll receive assurance by then that he can spend the federal money that usually funds that work. Last year, a plague outbreak caused a prairie dog die-off in the Badlands of South Dakota.
“If we aren't vigilant, the largest black-foot ferret population in the world is potentially at risk,” he said.
Chamois Andersen of Defenders of Wildlife said while nonprofits are prioritizing resources to ensure the recovery progress continues, the federal government plays a crucial role.
“It's going to be a real challenge for the NGOs to fill in those gaps,” she said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife echoed that sentiment when it comes to state wildlife agencies, saying its black-footed ferret conservation work had been negatively affected by recent federal changes.
"These federal staffing cuts, and the illegal freezing of federal funds make our wildlife population more vulnerable to the spread of disease, disrupt carefully researched reintroduction efforts, and harms the continual population growth of the black-footed ferret in Colorado," the state agency said in a written statement.
CPW said it depends on the conservation center in Fort Collins to increase the ferret population in the state. It also said it faces uncertainty over the support it typically receives from federal agencies for plague mitigation.
The black-footed ferret has made a big comeback since the 1980s when a handful from Wyoming were brought into captivity. Now, there are about 800 individuals.
“We’ve made amazing strides,” Jackson said. “But it's still not the sort of number where we can say these guys will survive if we step away for a few years.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated with information from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
