Adding insult to injury, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo on February 26, 2025, directing all federal agencies to submit their plans for a systematic Reduction in Force (RIF) by March 13. This lands with a thud on the National Park Service after it has already had over 1,000 probationary employees fired*, an unknown number taking the deferred resignation, and a start-stop-start again on seasonal hiring.

Continued dry conditions, winds, and high fire danger in the park prompting a ban on all campfires and charcoal use, effective immediately at Great Smoky Mountains National park. The fire ban will be in effect until further notice on both the Tennessee and North Carolina sides of the park.

Hundreds of outdoor groups sign on to letter urging Congress to reverse public lands worker firings.

America's public lands are one of the Nation's most outstanding achievements. Public lands are part of every citizen's heritage and an essential part of the national inheritance. It is especially vital to the people living in the western states, where we enjoy an abundance of public land.