Another attempt by the Trump administration to further shrink the National Park Service workforce surfaced Friday/NPS file

The National Park Service on Friday opened another window for employees to resign now but remain on the payroll through September.

The offer, extended by Melissa Sims, the agency's acting associate director for workforce and inclusion, closes at midnight on April 9. Those who accept the offer would be placed on paid leave no later than April 25, the email to all NPS staff said.

Kristen Brengel, senior vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, called the offer "reckless" at a time when Park Service staff is gearing up for the busy summer months.

“Our national parks and park staff have been under attack for months. And now, the administration is pushing another round of buyouts," she said. "Peak visitation season is upon us and millions of people are flooding our national parks from Arches to Great Smoky Mountains. Rather than supporting our parks in the middle of their busiest time, the administration continues to pressure and coerce dedicated park staff to resign from their jobs or face more arbitrary firings and mounting barriers to doing their work. 

“The administration’s relentless attacks are crushing the Park Service," continued Brengel. "Park staff are constantly questioning whether they will be able to perform — or even keep — their jobs. Forcing another round of buyouts is yet another reckless action by the administration that will have long-lasting, irreversible impacts on this generation of National Park Service staff. Who will care for our national parks if they keep pushing out staff?”

Exempted from the offer are Park Service personnel involved in wildland fire management positions, emergency response management positions, law enforcement and security positons, dispatching positions, aviation positions, positions critical to the operations of National Critical Infrastructure (with written approval from the senior advisor to the Interior secretary), permitting positions (such as surveyors, hydrologists, geologists, reality specialists, Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation positions, and positions related to timber, oil and gas, mining and grazing), and positions "that require on-site duties with written approval from the senior advisor to the Interior secretary."

A similar offer extended in February led to about 1,000 employees to leave the Park Service.

The offer came a day after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered the Park Service's acting director to ensure that parks "properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit."

The two-page secretarial order — coming in the wake of the department's initial hold on seasonal hiring, attempt to fire 1,000 probationary workers, encouragement for others to retire, and hiring freeze — directed the Park Service director to see that parks are kept open and staffed in line with the hours posted on their park's webpages.