How NPS layoffs will affect national parks this summer

Kenan Chan worked at Channel Islands National Park for almost a decade as a marine biologist who collects data that helps monitor the health of the protected area’s underwater environment and inform scientists and policy makers. Nate Vince has been an apprentice at Yosemite National Park for the past four years and has become the only locksmith to keep federal lands safe and secure (subject to helping with a clogged bathroom handle and then locking and unlocking countless doors and gates within the park). His colleague, Alex Wilde, has been the only emergency medical technician in Yosemite for the past six years.

Everyone recently launched a new permanent role with the National Park Service, which required them to go through a probationary year that was not covered by the same protections as other federal employees. And in a social media post that is all widely distributed, she shares the sudden firing of over 1,000 NPS employees on February 14th (most, if not all, were on a year of probation after a position change).

The layoffs, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce, amount to about 5% of NPS staff per year. Also, 3,400 U.S. Forest Service staff ended on February 13th. Three weeks ago, job openings for an estimated 8,000 seasonal NPS jobs were cancelled. These staffing decisions raised concerns regarding the future maintenance and operation of the country’s precious and already under-staffed protected land, particularly in the busy summer travel season.

“What is at stake here is the safe and functional operation of the national park, the integrity of the visit experience, the protection of these irreplaceable cultural and natural resources, and the stability of the local economy that relies on the functioning park.” “And that’s just the beginning.”

Mass shootings are part of a broader initiative led by Elon Musk’s Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce federal spending by cutting staff across the federal government. According to New York Times, Laying employees in probation positions is part of the Trump administration’s plan to quickly fire as many as 200,000 federal workers.

However, advocacy groups and former NPS leadership argue that belt tensions in the parks create a problem with the country’s federal land and ultimately reduce costs. According to the NPCA tracking cuts, all 433 units managed by the NPS are affected, but it is too early to measure how severe the impact from one park to the next.

“The impact varies greatly from park to park based on the type of position that was removed,” Landy King, retired Mount Rainier National Park superintendent, told Afar. “There are some important positions that cannot provide access or operation to the park. They are not efficient. In any case, they are very inefficient when it comes to the randomness of the impact.”

Garder added that the roles excluded were not targeted, but were part of a “indiscriminatory directive that randomly cuts personnel for their position.”

According to the NPCA, NPS has been cutting full-time staff by 20% due to budget cuts, despite a 16% increase in visitors since 2010 (and also added 38 NPS units, including the recently added New River Gorge National Park). In 2023 alone, there were 325.5 million visitors to the US National Park site.

System-wide NPS employees were given similar notifications, citing performance issues. In a social media post, Wild said, “The letter was about to be honest, and I’m not sure what to do with it.”

However, Matt Graves, a now-retired NPS employee who worked on 14 national park sites over a 32-year career, noted that many of them were long-time NPS workers who had just received management promotion and showed they had no issues with their jobs. He argues that, when he loses his institutional knowledge and the continuity provided by permanent employees, he has a widespread ripple effect.

“NPS’ mission is to provide visitors with a great opportunity to experience these national treasures while protecting and preserving these locations,” Graves said. “So both parts of the mission will be negatively affected by a shortage of employees.”

Since the mass firing, the Trump administration has issued a memo that raised employment freezes to allow the NPS to hire up to 5,000 seasonal workers. Typically, NPS employs around 8,000 seasonal workers, complementing the permanent workforce of around 13,000. Graves said most of the staff interacting with visitors are temporary seasonal employees, from fee collectors and maintenance workers to education programmers and law enforcement rangers.

Don Neubacher, former superintendent of Yosemite National Park and current member of the Union Executive Board, is a member of the Union’s executive committee to protect American national parks, and said there is no guidance on how seasonal employment cuts will be.

“The problem with that is that it takes three months to ride a seasonal staff,” Neubacher said. “How do you prepare by May when you need it? It may be too late. They’re going to put the park in a devastating and impossible position without thinking about this.”

Graves added that NPS may not be able to find sufficient applicants as previous applicants either have tentatively found other jobs or decided that working for the federal government might not be the best or most stable career choice.

“Unfortunately, these were relatively new to NPS and were meant to be the next generation of workers and leaders in agencies,” King said.

How this will affect national parks and gateway communities

Garder said the park, which has fewer staff, would feel the most tense. At Grand Teton National Park, he pointed out, 16 of the 17 members of the park’s management staff were let go. Management has virtually stopped working because there are not enough staff to hire, process or train seasonal employees.

He added that Grand Teton, where the thinnest ranks are, and other parks, have reduced the time for fee collectors, closed campsites (if there are no rangers to maintain them), and visitor centres that affect access to maps, guided tours and historic exhibits, so there are likely long lines to enter the park.

Neubacher said other possible outcomes are filthy bathrooms and overflowing garbage cans, but the latter can become accustomed to the lives and safety of visitors, as they can be used to seeing garbage as a reliable food source (meaning that they lose their natural fear of people).

Graves said few park rangers on duty could increase the risk to adventurers.

“If no one warns guests about wildlife, hot springs, sea tides, etc., then more people get hurt or killed in the park because they don’t get guidance,” Graves said.

Tania Raun Hecht, vice president of communications and strategy for the recreation advocacy group, Outdoor Alliance, reiterated the sentiment, saying that “we can delay search and rescue operations and other visitors’ safety efforts.”

Without specific staff, the park’s habitat and cultural resources could be reduced. For example, wildlife experts are studying animal species within the park, some of which are threatened or at risk, making decisions to ensure a healthy ecosystem for them and the larger park. Similarly, historic preservation experts can help maintain historic buildings properly. Without them, the Site could fall into devastation or inadvertently or intentionally harm you.

During the 35-day partial government closures in 2018 and 2019, when the park remained open but staffing significantly decreased, there were reports of vandalism, looting and environmental destruction, including cutting down Joshua’s trees at the park of the same name. The Gurder states that “it’s a place where visitors were not part of, where safety was at risk and resource integrity was at risk.”

What tourists can do to help

King recognises what the park is handling if they plan to go to the National Park Unit in the coming months and says, “Are they cutting down services, or if so, will they be difficult to accommodate visits?”

Similarly, if the park is closed, don’t enter it (as many did during the closure), Jerry James, the Sierra Club’s Associate Director of Outdoors, is a program that protects the park and increases access to nature for young people and veterans.

“Find another open park, like a national forest site or a national wildlife shelter, so you don’t put pressure on the vulnerable ecosystems,” James said. He consider picking up trash to bring in garbage bags if the park is open. Always practice “leave no traces” guidelines by packing what you pack and staying in the specified path to reduce erosion, leaving you with more places you found them or leaving them behind.

Additionally, use excellent safety measures, especially when it comes to fire and trail safety. Research the protected areas you are visiting and find out what you are obsessed with. If you get into trouble, there may be no one to help you.

You can consider donating to the National Parks Foundation, Parks’ charity partner. This should be considered funding or volunteering important projects that may currently face budget shortages. However, NPS needs people to manage volunteer programs, and without adequate staff, they cannot accommodate many volunteers because they have no surveillance capabilities.

Finally, as gateway communities often rely on park tourism (in 2023, visitors in these small towns added $55.6 billion to the US economy), it helps to support local businesses, accommodation, restaurants and tour operators near the park to mitigate economic losses.

While the long-term outcomes of US national parks remain uncertain, Neubacher hopes that the current challenges will be short-lived, saying, “People across the country really care about the parks and believe they are America’s biggest treasure.