Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has been urged by four U.S. senators to resolve the hiring freeze on the National Park Service that threatens to imperil the summer season in the National Park System.

The request came a day after former Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis told the Traveler that national park visitors could be confronted by "chaos" this summer if the Trump administration does not lift its hold on season hirings.

"It will be chaos. There will be a lot of dirty toilets and a lot of visitors unsatisfied with their experience, and hopefully not too much damage to the resource," Jarvis said during a phone call Thursday. "But if you don't have folks on the ground out there, we certainly saw this during the last shutdown [in 2018-19] when they didn't staff the parks, and we saw vandalism, intentional damage."

The ramifications could affect a suite of crucial operations in the parks, everything from plumbing and electrical work in park buildings to critical water testing, snowplowing roads and sanitation treatment, he said.

In their appeal (attached below) the Democrats — Angus King, I-Maine, Patty Murphy, D-Washington, Martin Henrich, D-New Mexico, and Jeff Merkely, D-Oregon — told the secretary in a letter that "[W]ithout seasonal staff during this peak season, visitor centers may close, bathrooms will be filthy, campgrounds may close, guided tours will be cut back or altogether cancelled, emergency response times will drop, and visitor services like safety advice, trail recommendations, and interpretation will be unavailable.

“We are also alarmed that the administration’s offer of deferred resignation and voluntary early retirement, made without clear legal authority, as well as open threats about future terminations will lead to a damaging loss of full-time staff at the National Park Service, which is already operating well below prior staffing levels despite significant increases in visitation,” the senators continued. “As a result of onerous budget caps during the 2010s, the National Park Service lost 15% of its staff while park visitation also increased by 15%. If a significant number of National Park Service employees take one of the offers – or further terminations are made – park staffing will be in chaos. Not only does this threaten the full suite of visitor services, but could close entire parks altogether.”

Read What Former NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis Predicts Park Visitors Will Face If The Hiring Freeze Isn't Quickly Lifted

The letter also noted that "[G]utting staffing at national park units will devastate local gateway communities where parks generate significant economic activity — from hotels to restaurants to stores to outfitters. In 2023, an estimated 325 million park visitors spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local gateway regions, supporting an estimated 415,000 jobs and $55.6 billion in total economic output in the national economy." 

The Senators concluded by stating that, “Americans showing up to national parks this summer and for years to come don’t deserve to have their vacations ruined by a completely preventable – and completely irresponsible – staffing shortage. And local economies don’t deserve to have their livelihoods destroyed for political gain. We urge your cooperation in protecting national parks for the enjoyment of everyone by ensuring National Park Service staffing meets the needs of the 433 national park units in all 50 states.”

The letter also was signed by Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO).