Ouray Wildlife Refuge and Pelican Lake

We began our journey to another Wildlife Refuge by visiting Pelican Lake, which was NOT at all easy to find -- took us a couple of hours on backroads til we found it. Interestingly, our visit to the Ouray wildlife refuge (35 miles SW of Vernal, Ut) was a surprise. Not only were there no staff in the central building or at the trout breeding building but there was also no water released into the refuge for the birds. We are assuming this lack of personnel and management had to do with the recent DOGE cuts by the Trump administration, leaving our protected areas unprotected. The area has interesting formations and colorful beauty nonetheless and we explored it as the only people in the entire place along with just 3 birds.