The Trump administration has fired thousands of probationary employees from federal agencies. That's impacting a Hawai’i Island forest and a beloved birdwatching program.
ʻAkiapōlāʻau are a species of endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper. Seventy percent of their population is found in the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, which is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Malia DelaCruz recently saw an ‘akiapōlā‘au at a program called Beginner Bird School. "I was amazed, I was like jaw dropped. It’s like seeing a celebrity you’ve been hunting for.”
Eric-Preston Hamren has led the popular program as a volunteer, with a full-time job at the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. When federal agencies began firing probationary employees, he hoped his team wouldn’t be affected.
"Maybe we, in our little department, Fish and Wildlife Service, and us in this little refuge up on the mountain, maybe we're not on their radar. Maybe they're just going to focus on these other departments," he told HPR.
"And by the time they get to Department of Interior, I'm two months away from finishing my probationary period. My coworker was three weeks away from finishing. Maybe by the time they come to us, we'll be past our year, and we'll be okay. But that wasn't the case."
Hamren was fired, along with half of the field staff at the wildlife refuge. He said that could affect Beginner Bird School — and over 200 people on its waiting list.
"I can only support Beginner Bird School in the way I’ve been doing it because I have paychecks," he said.
Before he was fired, Hamren led efforts to plant more than a thousand native flora at Hakalau; other probationary employees fought invasive species and seed banked for future wildfires.
"I think now our hearts are just broken, and it already felt like we were climbing an impossible mountain, and now that mountain just got more steep and more treacherous."
Interview Highlights
On federal cuts inching closer to his department
ERIC-PRESTON HAMREN: So we kind of knew this was coming. It was really uncharacteristic for a new administration to ask for lists of probationary employees from all the agencies, and so that already had our little red flags waving, and then all of the things going on with the deferred resignation emails that were coming out… You could really tell that they were making the relationship toxic as an encouragement to get people to quit or fire or take the resignation… I had always told myself, the day after the resignation period ends is when they're probably going to start making cuts, and it would probably be probationary employees first. So I sort of knew that in the back of my head, tucked away, something's coming, and it's probably coming for me and many of the people I work with. When the deferred resignation ended on I believe it was a Wednesday, and I started hearing about USDA and a lot of other agencies firing employees on Thursday, we thought, well, maybe the Department of Interior is going to be OK. Not that I agree with what was going on, but, you know, you kind of are like, maybe we, in our little department, Fish and Wildlife Service, and us in this little refuge up on the mountain, maybe we're not on their radar. Maybe they're just going to focus on these other departments. And by the time they get to the Department of Interior, I'm two months away from finishing probationary period. My coworker was three weeks away from finishing. Maybe by the time they come to us, we'll be past our year and we'll be okay. But that wasn't the case.
On learning he was being terminated on Valentine's Day
HAMREN: Saw an email saying the title, didn't say anything in email, the title just said, “update to probationary employees,” and I immediately knew what that was, and it was an invite to a, you know, an online meeting… It was pretty to the point, luckily, it was Fish and Wildlife national people talking to us. It was pre-recorded, but they did a really good job ensuring that we felt that this wasn't our fault, that this wasn't performance-based, and that we had all the resources that we were going to need, but still how quickly it was happening… Fortunately, because we sort of knew this was coming, I had pulled off all of my personnel files, all my job performance reviews, my pay stubs, all of that stuff. Once you lose access to government computers, it's really hard to get a hold of all that information. So I had pre-downloaded all those things and had printed copies. But all of my regular work files, all the data, all of that needed to get passed on. So I was rushing to get as much off of the computer and available to other people as I could… By the time I got to the office, my computer access was closed. I tried to get back on my email to finish up things on the computer, and everything was locked.
On his work at Hakalau Forest
HAMREN: The nursery lead in plant restoration entails restoring the upper portion of the refuge, which was formerly cattle ranch, and that's everything from collecting the seeds, cleaning the seeds, storing the seeds, growing those seeds into plants, maintaining the nursery while the plants are in their growing stage, and then overseeing the outplanting, the restoration component and working with community groups and volunteers to initiate all of that. Within all of those phases of plant restoration, there's endangered species of which we have probably about 10 different endangered species that we propagate in the nursery, one of which was reduced to one individual, a native mint, Phyllostegia brevidens, we only had one individual left in the wild, and it was only found at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge… We're dealing with these really rare, critically endangered species, and all of this restoration is providing habitat for all of these native birds.
On the future of Beginner Bird School
HAMREN: So Beginner Bird School is my nonprofit hat. When I'm not working for the government, I volunteer to run Beginner Bird School, which is hosted at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, but is run through the Wildlife Society Hawaiʻi Chapter. That program so far is secure because it operates through the Wildlife Society. It's not beholden to any federal funding, but with all of these staff cuts, typically a staff person is there to do a volunteer segment of Beginner Bird School, and I don't know if they're going to be available to do that. So for now, yes, Beginner Bird School’s safe, but we are going to be needing to make adjustments potentially and be on our toes as more changes roll forward.
On the lasting impact of these terminations
HAMREN: Reconnecting people in Hawaiʻi to ʻāina, reconnecting them to these birds and these plants that only exist in these high elevation places that are hard to access, that they don't get to interact with every day, reconnecting them to these native species already felt so important, but now it's just critical. People don't understand what they're losing if they've never seen it... I think now our hearts are just broken, and it already felt like we were climbing an impossible mountain, and now that mountain just got more steep and more treacherous. The ability to work in conservation and get paid, to me, I never take for granted, because I would be volunteering whether I was getting paid or not, but to be able to get paid and do this as a job protects me and allows me to continue doing this. Without being a federal employee, my ability to do Beginner Bird School and to volunteer changes dramatically. I have to ensure I'm safe and my family is safe, and my partner and I are safe and our household is supported. And that has to come first before my volunteering and going out and hiking through the forest… But I definitely still have that belief, because we can't, we can't accept defeat or these species go extinct.
On his dedication to Hakalau
HAMREN: I made a commitment to stay at Hakalau for the next 20 to 30 years, for the rest of my career, and commit to this place, and this forest, and this island, and this community that is supporting this. And to feel like I was letting everyone down, even though I knew it wasn't my fault, but also to feel like I wasn't upholding my promise to this place, to this forest, to these birds and these plants, was really hard for me, but I'm still committed to being there as long as I can. I'll be up there as a volunteer and hopefully things line up for me to still be up there in some way or form.
On Feb. 27, a federal judge in San Francisco partially halted the Trump administration’s firings of probationary federal employees. But the actions may still have broader impacts on the Hakalau Forest.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 3, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. HPR's Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted the extended interview for the web.
