National park superintendents have been told to reassign staff, and even borrow staff, in an effort to adequately staff their parks this summer/NPS file

Editor's note: This updates with National Park Service comments.

National park superintendents, told to properly staff the National Park System in the face of firings and resignations, have been directed to use their ingenuity when it comes to accomplishing that task.

Borrowing staff from other parks, reassigning existing staff, reaching out to state parks, even using volunteers and partner organizations was mentioned in a directive acting-National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron sent out after close of business in the East on Monday, according to someone who had seen the directive.

In short, the directive urges park superintendents to do what they can to focus on the visitors' experience. Staffing not specifically tied to that should take a backseat, the directive added.

"This new memo from the National Park Service shows how much park superintendents will need to scramble in order to maintain visitor services and resource protection in parks this summer," Kristen Brengel, senior vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservaton Assocaiton, told the Traveler on Tuesday. "Rather than lift the hiring freeze and stop a reduction-in-force, the administration is asking park staff to stretch themselves even thinner. This is not good for our parks and their visitors and resources."

Park Service officials, however, were confident adequate staffing would be in place across the park system.

"As in other years, we are working hard to ensure we make this another great year for visitors. National park employees are dedicated problem solvers used to working around obstacles and will continue to work hard to provide memorable experiences this summer," said Rachel Pawlitz, the agency's public affairs chief, in an email.

"As always, travelers visiting national parks this summer should do their due diligence by planning for their trip," she continued. "This means doing research about the park you're looking to visit, understanding what passes or reservations you will need, creating a backup plan in case things don't go as planned, packing the 10 essentials, and making sure you download the NPS App to access park information and maps while in the park."

The directive from Bowron came four days after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered the National Park Service to ensure parks are properly staffed "to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit," and three days after the Trump administration encouraged federal employees, including those at the Park Service, to resign now but remain on the payroll through September.

Superintendents were also reminded by Bowron that they could use "other duties as assigned,” standard language in position descriptions, as the authority to reassign existing staff to visitor-facing positions. And they were encouraged to reach out to partners and stakeholders — tribes, local and state governments, and concessionaires — to support their operations.

John Garder, who tracks budget and appropriations issues for NPCA, said park superintendents already were juggling staffing losses before this directive.

"Staffing to operate national parks had already fallen by 20 percent since 2010, and now we’re seeing at least a 6 percent loss in Park Service staffing in less than three months—and that’s a very conservative estimate," Garder told the Traveler. "We've never seen such a devastating assault on the dedicated staff of the Park Service, and if this keeps up we're looking at a park system gutted of its experts who don't just provide for visitors but research and protect those irreplaceable resources people go to enjoy."