The Trump administration wants to unplug a high-powered U.S. Geological Survey research program whose scientists have helped protect wildlife, manage forests, thwart pests and illuminate nature for over three decades. Eliminating the biological research branch of the USGS, as called for in President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal, would accelerate the administration’s targeting of scientific experts and studies already shown in layoffs and grant cancellations at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. … The Ecosystem Mission Area is one of five designated mission areas within USGS. It received about $293 million for fiscal 2025. Trump’s proposal would drop it to zero in fiscal 2026. … Other USGS mission areas, such as Natural Hazards and Water Resources, would get less money but still survive under Trump’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget.

Other science and environmental research funding news:

• Reuters: NIH scientists speak out over estimated $12 billion in Trump funding cuts
• Chemistry World: NSF chemistry funding faces 75% cut under Trump budget request
• The New York Times: The White House gutted science funding. Now it wants to ‘correct’ research.
• FOX5 (San Diego): UCSD students protest Trump cuts to science research funding
• NPR: Podcast: An indicator lost – big disaster costs