Firing federal employees without regard for the importance of their work or the consequence of their loss is not smart — or justified. Identifying and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse is a valid goal but that is not happening here. This administration is using their chainsaw to whack away at what they falsely define as “government waste” with no forethought or plan.
The National Park Service (NPS), for example, operates under various legal mandates and a large body of case law. Its mission is to preserve this nation’s most cherished natural and cultural resources the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. This mission is not short-term but forever. There is no “deep state” — only park rangers, biologists, historians, maintenance workers, and other dedicated professionals committed to preserving our nation’s most cherished natural and cultural heritage.
Sheridan Steele
The people who serve our national parks are not thinking about who the president is or how the political winds are changing as they go about their work on behalf of all Americans. They’re just keeping up with the daily operations of the park — carrying an injured climber out of the backcountry at Grand Canyon, cleaning a restroom at Glacier, answering the numerous questions at a park visitor center in Yosemite, replacing the roof on a historic building at the Lincoln Home, looking for a lost hiker at Yellowstone, or repairing a broken window at Rocky Mountain.
Meanwhile the number of park visitors has exploded while park budgets and staffing levels have been declining dramatically. And this administration is making the situation worse. As our partners at the National Parks Conservation Association said in a recent release, “recent resignations and buyout offers are just the latest pressure tactic in the administration’s ongoing effort to dismantle the Park Service—coercing staff to either leave or endure the constant threat of more firings while being stripped of the essential tools and resources needed to do their jobs, including eliminating purchasing ability, cancelling office leases and banning travel.”
I have heard that Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, where I was superintendent for 7 years, is now without more than one-third of its staff, including the chief ranger and district interpreter. Operational hours at visitor centers will be severely curtailed, there will be fewer park rangers to assist visitors and respond to emergencies, and routine and urgent maintenance will be reduced and deferred. In short, visitor services and resource protection will be seriously impacted.
Delayed seasonal hiring is already impacting national parks. We will likely hear more soon about the disastrous, proposed reduction in force. Indiscriminate cuts to the National Park Service’s budget and staff — on top of so many years of declining budgets — will be devastating.
NPS employees have been doing “more with less” for years as they continue to offer high quality visitor services while serving as stewards for irreplaceable resources. For example, at Acadia National Park in Maine where I was superintendent for 12 years, visitation has increased 70 percent since 2010 while the operating budget has gone down about 20 percent, when inflation and cost increases are considered. All the while, park employees have mounting concerns related to low pay rates, lack of affordable housing, and fewer park employees to do the ever-increasing amount of work.
The National Park Service is in crisis and they can’t talk about it. So we must continue to raise the alarm. Further losses in park positions will not only make it more difficult to meet visitor needs and ensure safety, but it will also lead to more deferred maintenance and degradation of the very natural and cultural resources that NPS is charged with protecting for the future. America’s best idea - and the dedicated employees who protect our parks - deserve better.
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