Last year, officials built a pavilion at one of the main entry points to the Great Dismal Swamp in Suffolk.
The project, funded through federal grants and private donors, transformed an empty field at the Jericho Lane entrance into a space for public events, including an amphitheater.
Over the past year, however, overgrowth has claimed much of the site, said Kay Adams, president of the nonprofit Friends of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, which led the project.
Cuts to federal staffing and funding are likely to blame and she fears more are on the horizon.
“As a result of these cuts, those lands are no longer being maintained,” she said. “The assets are unusable by the public.”
The Friends has a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help boost public access and conservation of the swamp, Adams said. It’s one of many conservation groups nationwide raising concerns about the impact of cuts under the Trump administration.
More than half of U.S. national wildlife refuges lack sufficient resources to carry out their missions, according to internal assessments conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service and recently analyzed by the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife.
President Trump has proposed cutting the National Wildlife Refuge System’s budget by at least 22%.
The system was already understaffed, starting in 2025 with 30% fewer employees than in 2010. Since Trump took office, the system has lost another quarter of its workforce.
It’s unclear how many staff have been impacted at the Dismal Swamp. The refuge’s central office and visitor contact station in Suffolk is now listed as open only 8 hours per week, down from 40.
Spokespeople for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast region, which includes Virginia, did not respond to WHRO’s request for comment.
Hampton Roads is home to several national wildlife refuges, including Back Bay in Virginia Beach, the Nansemond River in Suffolk, Plum Tree Island in Poquoson and the Eastern Shore.
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is the largest, spanning 113,000 acres, mostly in Chesapeake and Suffolk and stretching into North Carolina. It’s the last vestige of a swamp that once covered more than a million acres.
The land contains more than 40 miles of trails and is a habitat for about 47 species of mammals, 200 bird species, 96 butterfly species and trees, including Atlantic white cedar, which is relatively rare because of logging and habitat loss.
The area also has extensive cultural and historical significance, including its role in supporting Indigenous tribes and serving as a refuge for “maroon” communities of enslaved people seeking freedom.
The National Park Service is studying a potential National Heritage Area centered around the swamp, which Congress would need to approve.
Adams said her nonprofit received grants through several federal agencies, including one in collaboration with Old Dominion University. This year, the money was canceled, withdrawn or paused indefinitely.
“A year and a half ago, we were operating with a grant portfolio in excess of $500,000,” she said. “That has now dropped to zero.”
Friends of the Great Dismal Swamp had to halt several education initiatives, such as hosting fourth-graders on field trips to the swamp and developing an environmental science curriculum for Suffolk Public Schools.
Adams said she hopes funding will eventually be restored, but in the meantime, the nonprofit aims to move forward by “marshaling resources from nontraditional areas.”
Local high school and college students are helping to document changes at the swamp in the wake of federal cuts, starting with a hike at the refuge last week. They plan to share the results with the public.
