Washington, D.C. ? Faced with a $2.5 billion budget shortfall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is eliminating hundreds of jobs, cutting programs and leaving more than 200 national wildlife refuges unstaffed.

In all, the agency is planning to cut 565 jobs from wildlife refuges by 2009 – a 20 percent reduction.

The national refuge system encompasses 547 wildlife refuges and more than 96 million acres in all 50 states, attracting more than 40 million visitors a year.

Environmentalists say the staffing cuts – which follow two years of reductions – will leave an already lean work force depleted and result in a decrease in habitat management, restoration projects and education projects.

President Bush has requested about $398 million for the National Wildlife Refuge System for the next budget year, a $12 million increase from current spending but far short of what is needed, critics say.