Government shutdown delays, disrupts environmental studies

The monthlong partial shutdown of the federal government is disrupting environmental research projects nationwide.

Scientists with universities, nonprofits and private companies are feeling the pinch. They can’t collaborate with federal partners, gain access to federal lands and laboratories, or secure federal funding.

Researchers could miss court-ordered deadlines for reports involving endangered species. Warm-weather field studies that must be planned months in advance could be delayed or canceled.

One nonprofit organization studies elephant seals and other species on the Farallon Islands off the California coast. They’re having trouble getting supplies and may have to abandon the wildlife refuge for the first time since 1968.

Also in jeopardy is a 60-year-old study of wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, which is off-limits to scientists during the shutdown.