The problems facing America’s beloved national parks may grow into a mature crisis within weeks.
The number of visitors (including national parks, monuments and other locations) managed by the National Park Service is rising. In 2023, the latest year of National Data, the park has visited more than 325 million. That’s about 16% relative to 2010. At least Visitation rates continue to rise in some parks.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service’s staffing declined, down about 13% over the same period, according to the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association. The number of people in the park has dropped further At that time, the group said, as the agency’s budget failed to keep up with the increase in personnel costs. This means that employees have reduced overseeing more visitors and mitigated their impact on our public land and ecosystems.
That’s forward Recent layoffs.
Later last week, the Trump administration had about 1,000 workers in the National Park Service, accounting for about 5% of its workforce. A broader federal workforce. The latest cut target is targeted employees who are still on probation, often meaning they have been recently hired or just promoted to a new position. Leakage does not include other employees who choose to resign deferredly or have Offers for full-time jobs.
“Amid institutions that have experienced a significant decline over the past decade, these layoffs will seriously affect the park’s operations and visitor experience,” said Phil Francis, president of the Executive Council of the Alliance for Conservation of the National Parks, representing the National Parks. Current and former employees and volunteers of the National Park Service in statement Friday. “National Park Service staff are committed to protecting the most precious landscapes and historic sites in our country. We should support them, not endanger their livelihoods.”
The Ministry of the Interior and the National Park Service did not respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post report states National Park Service to resume 5,000 seasonal work offers Previously cancelled under government-wide recruitment freezes. This may help meet some immediate needs; seasonal staff perform a range of tasks, from charging fees to studying wildlife. However, it is not clear when these jobs will resume, and they will not make up for the permanent roles they have lost.
“Those seasonal employees who are essential to serving visitors during busy seasons cannot replace those permanent employees who manage these seasonal workers and provide expertise and institutional knowledge and experience to ensure resources are protected and well-functioning parks. ”.
The National Park Service is The most popular US government agency in the United StatesAccording to the Pew Research Center’s 2024 poll, it ranks higher than Postal Service and NASA on Postal Service and NASA. Parks are also economic engines, and they contribute some US$56 billion in 2023.
Provided by Pew Research Center
With too few staff leaving the park may have to shorten hours at its visitor center and have access to their bathrooms, or cancel a tour guide. Maintenance projects will be delayed further. The garbage will accumulate. Educators will teach visitors less about the history and biology of the region and its resources.
Test workers, such as law enforcement officers, who are considered essential to public safety, are Free from layoffs. But some experts Worry about layoffs still putting the public at riskConsider that park workers provide basic visitor support, such as providing instructions to avoid losing people.
“Does the person who makes the decision know or care about my position’s main goal is to provide preventive search and rescue education to ensure park visitors are safe?” Stacy Ramsey, Buffalo, Arkansas National A worker in the river was fired, Written in current virus Facebook posts. “Did they know I’m part of the Visitors and Resource Conservation Department and I spent a day on the front line looking for safety for park visitors?”
Travis Mason-Bushman, an employee of the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, over the weekend Write on LinkedIn He lost five colleagues. “These people are among those who are visiting, clean toilets, answering calls, designing signs and supporting search and rescue operations,” he said in the Post. “You can’t put down half of the frontline workers of any organization and keep moving forward, as if it were a matter of fact. Nothing happened.”
As workers are reduced, many of the ecosystems saved by the park are also at risk from the tourist base, especially in the popular months in spring and summer, Gadell said. These include the wet forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the rivers as well as stunning views of Zion. A key part of the job of park service staff is protecting these resources, such as ensuring visitors do not litter or get off the trail.
“These reckless actions will never happen,” Gadall said of the layoffs. “But if they are reversed now, it is possible to ensure that the park has the people they need to support millions of tourism economies to Critical visitors and protect irreplaceable resources. Nowadays, visitors will not have the services they expect and deserve, and resources will be threatened because of the lack of park experts to study and protect them.”
