Hirono urges Interior Secretary to restore funding for environmental research and conservation program

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaiʻi), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent a letter to US Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urging him to reconsider the Trump Administration’s decision to eliminate funding for the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA).

The EMA supports research that informs conservation management and helps communities respond to environmental threats. Its programs fund research facilities that employ and serve communities in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific, including Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and American Samoa.

“By zeroing out funding for the EMA, the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget proposal poses a direct threat to that critical science and the communities that depend on it,” Hirono wrote. “In Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific Region, the USGS EMA funds a significant amount of research that advances our understanding of the natural environment, directly benefits our communities and supports the next generation of scientists.”

In her letter, the Senator stressed the importance of Secretary Burgum’s support for the EMA facilities, citing uncertainty and chaos surrounding government funding that has ensued since Trump took office in January.

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“We cannot rely on Congress alone to fix this problem,” Hirono continued. “Even if Congress disagrees with the ‘savings’ that defunding EMA provides and appropriates funding, there is no guarantee that this Administration will follow the rule of law. Currently, this Administration is freezing funding for a variety of programs and agreements across the executive branch to align with the President’s priorities, sometimes providing funding that needs to be dispersed within weeks, and other times completely clawing back the funding that Congress has appropriated.”

Hirono also listed examples of facilities in Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific region that would be impacted by a reduction in EMA funding, including the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the Pacific Islands Ecosystem Research Center (PIERC) and the Hawaiʻi Cooperative Fishery Research Unit (HCFRU). The President’s budget would also eliminate eight other regional CASCs across the country, as well as the national CASC.

“These are just a few examples of how devastating these decisions are for Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Region, but these impacts will play out in communities across the country,” concluded the senator. “If this Administration is successful in eliminating the USGS EMA, the costs will far exceed any short-term savings—eroding our global leadership in climate research and our ability to anticipate, mitigate and respond to environmental threats.”

The full text of the letter is available here.