These park rangers oversee the only manatee shelter in Florida. They were then fired.

Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge – Brier Ryver had just spent a working day with five dozen school children on the Kings Bay coast, telling them the importance of wild places in Florida when rumors began .

Talk spread the possibility that employment could come at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the country’s only dedicated shelter for manatees, where Liver was hired as park rangers in April. I did.

Eight full-time employees, including Ryver, managed a 32,000-acre wildlife shelter in Florida’s Gulf Coast, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The reductions were detrimental to teams already juggling permits, manatee rescue, outreach and volunteer coordination, Leiber thought.

Being a Florida Park Ranger was my dream job. As rumors swirled, the Liber, who helped keep the shelter running amid a back-to-back hurricane, has collected months of passionate performance reviews and free letters from supervisors.

The next day, the Liver was invited to work calls with hundreds of other federal wildlife service staff. They were all let go.

Liver is advancing the Trump administration to have one of two full-time evacuation workers (a quarter of staff) cut the federal workforce and remove “waste.” I was fired for. He also let go of Emily John, who helped oversee the visitor services. All in all, the Ministry of Home Affairs has recently fired about 2,300 people.

“I want people to know that we are important,” said the 26-year-old Reiber. It wasn’t in vain. ”

The cut at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge comes during the manatee peak season, when three sisters in the park’s warm waters gather to dodge the cold. For staff, it is the period in which visitors arrive from all over the country and reach all hands that arrive from across the country to get a glimpse of the manatees of the handkers.

“Losing these employees couldn’t come at a bad time,” said Beverly Kerr, a shelter volunteer who worked with Leiber and Jung. “These two were essential to running the shelter. Both helped make things run smoothly.”

In addition to managing the peak manatee season, Liber was able to teach hundreds of citrus students about restoration in their local Springs in four weeks to the six-week program. Liber also oversaw permission to bring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to shelters.

“They were glue that put things together,” said Carr, who started an online fundraiser for both former employees. On Thursday evening, about 50 people were missing for $5,500. All the proceeds go to the Leiber and Jung as they hunt for work.

The Liver earns around $61,000 a year and was fired after his probation period ended, about a month before his expected salary increase.

There were no firing documents, and the only official documents received by Ryver and the other staff was a note that was forwarded to their personal email five days later.

“The (internal) department has determined that your knowledge, skills and capabilities do not meet the department’s current needs. It is necessary to terminate your appointment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the probationary period and Appropriate” Please read the email.

Health insurance coverage will expire within 30 days, Ryver said.

The news rattles off a close network of staff and volunteers at shelters, home to the last undeveloped spring habitat along the river’s source.

“I write this email with a heavy heart,” he began an email sent by park manager Joyce Palmer to staff and volunteers. “Emily Jung and Brier Leiber are currently on probation and we regret to inform you that their position has ended as of today.”

The decision was not in the hands of park staff, Palmer wrote. The cut was not based on performance. A spokesman for the Ministry of Interiors did not respond to an email from the Tampa Bay Times seeking comment.

Staff who manage five national wildlife shelters, including Crystal River, Pinellas, Passage Key, Chasawitzka and Egmontkey, are half the size of a few years ago. In 2015, there were 12 employees.

There are over 500 shelters nationwide created to protect and protect endangered species.

At Crystal River Evacuation Center, staff will conduct seven manatee sanctuaries, conduct regular wildlife surveys, lead education lessons, rescue injured manatees, and show how visitors interact with the park. I’ll research it.

“We were completely unemployed so the rest of our employees have a hard time covering it all,” Liber said.

“Everyone is pitching all the time, everyone is doing a great job, but there are limits to the fact that there are few employees who can reasonably expect to carry out evacuations effectively.”

On Thursday, the Liver returned to the park for the first time since being fired. The volunteers, wearing bright orange vests, offered embraces and wishes.

“It’s a shame this happened to you,” one volunteer said.

“I wish I’d come back,” another said.

Rick Irvine, 76, said he never worked with employees with effective communication and appreciation for others. The volunteers “hope for chaos,” he said Jung and Leiber were gone.

Hundreds of visitors marched along the boardwalk surrounding the spring of the three sisters and stared at the nearby manatees, causing the laiber to find a quiet spot to take in the view.

The park rangers spend hours here and spit interesting manatee facts on their guests.

So it wasn’t surprising when the rider turned to the man leaning against the nearby promenade.

Springs can tell you a lot about the health of the basin, and the livers start, and manatees here need healthy habitat.

Above all, they rely on this place.

Do you want to help?

If you would like to benefit from Ryver and Jung and donate to a fundraiser, visit tinyurl.com/4n9nea6s.