There are "known unknowns" concerning the makeover of the National Park Service that President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficency is orchestrating. And the Interior Department is giving DOGE cover by not being transparent about what's going on.

For instance, across the National Park System we know there are about 400 superintendent positions, but since DOGE starting forcing people to retire, resign, or be fired, the number of vacant superintendencies has grown to an estimated 100-120, according to what we're hearing from inside and outside of the Park Service. What we don't know is the exact number, the parks affected, and whether acting superintendents have been put in place. Those are some of the unknowns.

There might not even be an accurate list, because there also have been a good number of regional directors and associate regional directors departing the agency as well, we're told. Regarding those regional directors, of which there are seven positions, word is that only two of the seven will soon be left with the agency, as five others are heading out the door, we're told.

So far the Park Service won't directly comment on those developments, nor will they comment on the institutional knowledge void created by the departure of so many senior leaders, or how they'll fill so many vacant positions. Again, known unknowns.

Any day now the agency's reduction-in-force plan will be announced, and there are concerns that the number of employees axed could be greater than the 1,000 who were fired on Valentine's Day (many of whom have been rehired due to a court ruling that the firings were illegal).

"These reductions would paralyze the ability of the NPS to carry out its legally mandated mission," said Resistance Rangers, an anonymous band of more than 1,000 off-duty rangers concerned about the future of their agency.

"In a bid to make these cuts less visible to the public—while hamstringing the agency behind the scenes—firings may focus on regional and national programs, instead of park-based staff," the rangers said in a release Wednesday evening. "Regional and national NPS offices provide essential scientific, cultural, administrative, and technical support and leadership across 433 disparate park sites across the country."

Programs the group says are at risk include:

• The Volunteer Program supports the work of over 138,000 volunteers in parks nationwide, who donate millions of dollars worth of labor every year. They perform search and rescues, trail maintenance, wildlife surveys, ecological restoration, and more.
• The National Register of Historic Places lists special places worthy of preservation as mandated by federal law—sites that are located in nearly every county in the nation.
• The Office of Partnerships and Philanthropy facilitates local and national partnerships that contribute billions to parks annually, saving taxpayer dollars and enhancing the NPS’s ability to carry out its mission.
• The Historic Preservation Training Center teaches the skills needed to preserve irreplaceable historic structures, from Revolutionary War forts to pre-contact tribal sites.
• The Inventory and Monitoring Program tracks long-term health of park ecosystems, providing the data and knowledge for park managers to make science-based decisions.

"I worked at the Denver Service Center, which supports parks across the country on major construction and infrastructure projects," said recently fired landscape architect Beth Shrader. "There's just no way individual parks could take on projects of this scale—it wouldn't be an efficient use of staff or funds. Having specialists in regional and national offices, where they can support dozens of park sites, is critical.”

What else don't we know? How is the Park Service going to function if DOGE moves ahead and cancels facility leases across the country that serve as Park Service headquarters for regional operations? Among the proposed lease cancellations:

• The Southeast Utah Group's offices in Moab, Utah, from which the local Park Service staff oversees Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments. Perceived savings of $8,058,490
• An NPS facility in Naples, Florida, connected with Everglades National Park. Perceived savings of $230,070
• An NPS facility in Ventura, California. Perceived savings of $252,420.
• An NPS facility in Yankton, South Dakota. Perceived savings of $628,082.
• An NPS facility in Harrison, Arkansas. Perceived savings of $650,477.
• An NPS facility in Flagstaff, Arizona, that serves Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Walnut Canyon national monuments. Perceived savings of $677,642.
• A massive NPS facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, that acts as an extension of the Washington, D.C., headquarters and houses the agency's Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate. Perceived savings of $844,407.
• The headquarters facility of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in San Antonio, Texas. Perceived savings of $903,384.
• An NPS facility in Homestead, Florida, connected with Everglades National Park. Perceived savings of $1,213,710.
• An NPS facility in Mountainaire, New Mexico. Perceived savings of $1,346,127.
• A rather large NPS historic and cultural preservation operation in Charles Town, West Virginia. Perceived savings of $9,480,390.

There are others, but as you can see, this is no small endeavor businessman Elon Musk and President Trump are pursuing. How many of these leases actually will be severed by DOGE isn't known. Some might already have been pulled back after cooler heads prevailed. 

But...if leases are canceled, where will new facilities be found, home much might they cost, and how much might it cost to transfer employees and everything they've been working on to new offices?

Park Service personnel in the Washington headquarters, no doubt under pressure from Interior Department officials, haven't directly addressed those known unknowns. 

We've asked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to discuss his plans for the Park Service, but so far he's declined. It's a standing offer, Mr. Secretary.