Nick Herasimenka/Unsplash
Bryce Canyon, United States
In mid-February, the Donald Trump administration fired thousands of newly hired National Park Service (NPS) employees. About 1,000 NPS workers were fired. These firings are a part of a plan led by the new Department of Government Efficiency and billionaire Elon Musk. This plan involves the elimination of thousands of federal jobs from various areas, such as science.
The firings were confirmed by Democratic House members and senators, as opposed to being announced publicly. National Park rangers, service employees, and trail managers are responsible for keeping the parks clean and its visitors safe. Without them trash will pile up and restrooms will go uncleaned.
Public safety is also at risk, as these firings “are pushing an already overwhelmed Park Service to its breaking point,” says Kristen Brengel, the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.
Park education also falls on the shoulders of these National Park employees, which will likely be neglected moving forward. Due to the depleted park staff, there can even be looting and vandalism.
Currently, Florida’s Everglades National Park, Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park have had the most workers fired. Large parks will be forced to continue without fee collectors, waste treatment operators, and cultural resources workers which help visitors understand the park. Smaller parks may even be forced to shut down visitor centers.
The park service has since said it will be recinding around 5,000 seasonal jobs, only creating more confusion as Trump’s administration continues on. These jobs has been rescinded as a part of the spending freeze ordered by President Trump last month.
Seasonal workers routinely work during the warm-weather months when there is a surplus of park visitors. They are trained by the very workers that were fired, leaving the remaining workers overwhelmed with work. The current scarcity of national park service employees will make this all the while more difficult.
For example, in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park 16 of 17 supervisory positions were terminated. Only one person is left to hire, train, and supervise the dozens of seasonal workers expected this summer.
In the Virginia Shenandoah National Park, trail maintenance employees and fee collectors were amongst those fired. This might make the trails unsuable, following heavy rain.
Numerous terminated park employees have taken to social media to speak out about the firings. Brian Gibbs, environmental educator at the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, took to Facebook to express his heartbreak over losing his “dream job.”
Gibbs continued, “I am the motivation to make it up the hill…the bandaid for a skinned knee…the lesson that showed your children that we live in a world of gifts-not commodities.”
These park employees are often referred to as “the guardians of America’s parks, public lands, and wildlife.” There simply aren’t enough workers to keep the parks running as efficiently as they once were.
Many fear what these treasured parks will become with oil and gas executives in charge, as part of Trump’s administration. Resources have been diverted for industry, as Secretary Burgum issued four orders for drilling or mining on the land and water of national parks.
Early impacts are already showing, through canceled reservations and trail closures. These parks received over 325 million visitors in 2023.