LA CROSSE - Dozens of people who live along the Mississippi River gathered Aug. 4 to tackle what they see as a catastrophe for one of the nation's greatest water bodies.
Agencies that work on the river, like the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are facing steep budget cuts and losses of longtime staff as President Donald Trump's administration drastically shrinks the size of the federal government.
Federal coordination is vital to preserving the Mississippi, because it touches 10 states, river advocates said. And federal agencies are a key part of the region's economy, they said, employing hundreds of people and helping keep the river safe for recreational use.
Those who showed up Aug. 4 expressed deep concern about the river's future and an urgent need to act.
Melinda Knutson of Onalaska, who worked for USGS and Fish and Wildlife before she retired in 2017, said she's most worried about agencies losing staff members who for decades have built expertise on the river and its challenges, from invasive species to flooding to water quality. She said friends who still work there feel berated by the narrative that federal employees don't work hard.
"It's really a tragedy," Knutson said.
Federal cuts slash long-time river experts, programs
The La Crosse region is home to an outsized presence of federal workers for a smaller community.
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, an ecological research center for USGS, employs more than 80 scientists on French Island. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, run by the Fish and Wildlife Service, is headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. And the Army Corps, which manages the river's locks and dams in the area, has an office in La Crescent, Minnesota, across the river from La Crosse.
Together with state and local partners, the agencies work to safeguard the Mississippi from pollution, invasive species and the effects of climate change. Even with their efforts, the Mississippi was named the nation's most endangered river of 2025 by the environmental advocacy group American Rivers.
More: Mississippi River named most endangered in U.S. Why water quality is not the issue.
Many staff left local USGS and Fish and Wildlife offices as the agencies carried out reductions in force required by the Trump administration. Sabrina Chandler, who manages the wildlife refuge, said at a May meeting of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association that just 30 Fish and Wildlife staff remain at refuges along the upper river, which cover hundreds of thousands of acres of floodplain. Some refuges have just one staffer left, Chandler said.
Kathryn Lammers, president of the refuge's local Friends group, said Aug. 4 that the Upper Mississippi River refuge is one of the country's most productive, contributing millions to the local economy. The refuge system has suffered for years from a shrinking staff and budget, she pointed out, even before the current cuts.
More: 240,000 acres of the Upper Mississippi have been unspoiled for 100 years. But concerns mount.
The president's budget request for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, calls for eliminating USGS's Ecosystems Mission Area, the agency's biological research arm. The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center is part of that arm, as well as other research stations in Madison, Ashland and Stevens Point.
The science center in La Crosse, which lost staff in February as part of the Trump administration's sweeping terminations of federal workers earlier this year, produces critical research on the upper Mississippi River and other places across the Midwest and the world. For decades, its work also has included the control of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes, bringing Wisconsin's major water bodies together.
Scientists also contribute to the Upper Mississippi River Restoration program, which funds habitat restoration activities and scientific research on the upper river. The program is responsible for more than 30 years of monitoring trends on the river.
"If we stop all the science we've done ... we can't just pick it up again," said Lee Donahue, an environmental advocate from the town of Campbell who organized the Aug. 4 event.
The program's budget for the current fiscal year was cut from $55 million to less than $14 million, Marshall Plumley, the Army Corps’ regional manager for the program, shared at the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association's May meeting. Most work has been suspended because of lack of funds, Plumley said. It's not yet clear what the program will be allocated for the coming fiscal year.
Donahue said she's hopeful the event will be the start of a coordinated effort to restore federal funding to river programs. She and Lammers urged those present to contact their federal lawmakers.
State Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska, said the state can't replace the work that federal agencies do on the river. He asked that residents look beyond partisan politics to consider what the cuts mean to the river, which he said "brings us all together."
"This is a resource to continue to fight for," Pfaff said.
Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Advocates call federal cuts to Mississippi River scientists tragic
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