It’s one of the most iconic vistas on Kauai: Surrounded by green mountains, the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is covered in fertile wetlands and taro farms, a remarkable habitat for rare and endangered birds. Visitors routinely stop to admire its scenic beauty from the newly renovated viewpoint on the north shore.

But the Kauai National Wildlife Refuge Complex has been upended. The Kauai NWR Complex is made up of three national wildlife refuges, Hanalei, Huleia and the very popular Kilauea Point, which just closed for construction.

On Feb. 14, President Donald Trump’s administration and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management terminated probationary employees from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at different national wildlife refuges across Hawaii. Four of the Kauai NWR Complex’s 14 employees were fired, including its only biologist.

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“I think the two words that all of us could use to sum this up is devastated and heartbroken,” Bryn Webber told SFGATE. She was the lone biologist working for the Kauai NWR Complex. Two field technicians she had hired were also fired.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge attracts more than 500,000 visitors per year who visit the historic lighthouse and view the seabirds that nest here.

Webber became refuge biologist six months ago, but carries many years of knowledge from working at the Kauai NWR Complex through AmeriCorps as a field worker and later as a graduate student, studying under the former biologist, who retired. Webber’s cumulative years of experience are what landed her the “dream job.”

The........

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