A U.S. General Services Administration list of a plan to shutter two million square feet of office space in the U.S. includes two Guam U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices.
The two offices slated for closure are the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office in the Casa España on Murray Boulevard in Hagatna on Aug. 31, and the office of the Wildlife Inspector in the Baltej Pavilion in Chalan San Antonio in Tamuning, on a date to be determined.
No offices are listed to be closed in Hawaii, or the NMI.
No information on the number of federal jobs in Guam at Fish and Wildlife was given by the GSA. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office as of October 2024, Guam had 3,252 federal employees at 19 agencies.
The General Services Administration “owns and leases over 363 million square feet of space in 8,397 buildings in more than 2,200 communities nationwide,” according to its website.
Through Region 9, the Pacific Rim Region of GSA manages “a 37 million-square-foot real estate portfolio that includes 170 government-owned buildings and leased space in 827 commercial buildings.”
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands both host offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to Journal files, the Guam office also manages the Guam National Wildlife Refuge at Ritidian, among other locations.
The National Fish and Wildlife Service in the NMI manages the Marianas Trench National Wildlife Monument’s three different programs which cover the Trench, the Ark of Fire volcanic unit of 21 volcanic sites, and the three northernmost islands of the NMI: Maug, Farallon de Pajaros and Asuncion islands.
In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service manages the Brown Tree Snake program and the Endangered Species Act (endangered plants and animals and their habitats) and community outreach.
The NMI service coordinates with the NMI government and the Department of Commerce’s NOAA Fisheries program, and the Guam and Honolulu offices, according to Journal files.
The FWS provides grants to states and territories through the U.S. Department of the Interior for the conservation, restoration, and management of wildlife and sport fish resources, as well as educational and recreational activities.
A March 31 release from the office of James C. Moylan, Guam’s delegate to Congress; said he has “spearheaded a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the General Services Administration, urging the agencies to maintain the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services lease on Guam."
The delegate has written to both the secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the acting administrator/deputy administrator at the GSA.
Moylan credited Guam Chelsa Muna, director of the Guam Department of Agriculture; for her “advocacy and initiative in bringing attention to this issue,” which he said “underscores the critical importance of preserving the USDA APHIS Wildlife Services lease on Guam for the preservation of ecosystems and regional biosecurity.”
mbjguam.com: center files foi request, ninth circuit rules Guam case contains additional background and other information. mbj