Pros
An opportunity to make substantial contributions in preserving wildlife and national resources.
Cons
Management changes as the political winds blow. I got in trouble for complying with a direct request from the Secretary of the Interior. I was directly instructed by the Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System not to accompany the Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to a briefing being presented to the Secretary of the Interior; however, the Director, USFWS was having problems with running the PowerPoint I helped him create and he requested that I run the briefing before the Secretary. When the Chief, NWRS found out that I disobeyed his instructions and accompanied the Director, USFWS to the briefing to the Secretary, he accused me of purposely making the PowerPoint presentation too difficult for the director to run and attempted to have me removed from federal service. When I hired an attorney and fought them, they backed down and I ended up resigning from the NWRS. When the administration was contemplating allowing drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the NWRS leadership (all appointees of the prior Democratic national leadership), they openly criticized the White House and did everything they could to go against the wishes of the Republican Administration. A senior supervisor who walked home for lunch everyday and frequently came back smelling of alcohol, and who was one of the first people every afternoon in a nearby bar, was not only tolerated but revered by senior management. This senior supervisor's behavior was tolerated instead of getting the individual medical treatment or dismissing them from federal service.