Staff cuts coming at Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

The state Department of Fish & Wildlife has notified about 100 employees their jobs may be eliminated soon.

Here’s a bit from their press release:
“The cuts will affect field staff- including hatchery personnel, enforcement officers, biologists and outdoor educators-as well as business operations such as financial management and computer support. The job cuts are spread statewide, throughout department programs and all levels of the agency.”

The cuts affect about 170 positions, but some of those are unfilled, they said.

The department expects to lose about 10 percent of their $348 million biennial budget. They tried other methods for making cuts first but they weren’t enough: Staffing consists 80 percent of the department’s operating expenses.

The layoffs will begin in April and stretch through to June, when the fiscal year ends. According to the release, the workers who will be affected first are being notified first.

Tags: Budget, Fish & Wildlife, layoffs