The last time America’s national parks were impacted by the Trump administration, the effects were so devastating experts said it would take as many as 300 years to recover.
In 2019, a federal government shutdown lasted 35 days. It resulted in massively destructive impacts to America’s national parks, including closures and vandalism, as parks were left without rangers. The iconic trees at California’s Joshua Tree National Park were damaged and chopped down as guests ran wild. Conservationists said that recovery could take centuries.
With the recent seasonal hiring freeze and unceremonious layoffs at the agency during President Donald Trump’s second term, parks leaders say similar situations could happen again.
“It’s not unlike, in a way, what happened years ago when the parks were supposedly closed but visitors were allowed to go into the parks,” Phil Francis, the chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, told The Independent last week. “And, you may remember Joshua Tree: there was a lot of damage that occurred. People weren’t available to manage the restrooms and make sure that people receive the kind of orientation that they need when they go visit a national park.”
“During the government shutdown during the last Trump administration where they kept parks open – it was that 35-day shutdown – we saw impacts to our national parks. Whether it was Joshua trees getting chopped down for firewood or human waste because the port-a-potties weren’t being cleared out, trash piling up in our National Mall here in Washington, D.C.,”
Now, the parks are under threat again. This time for sweeping cuts across the federal government. More than 4,000 park and forest services workers have lost their jobs as Trump, Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency look to shrink the federal workforce. That has led to depleted park staff and warnings for the upcoming travel season.
Emily Douce, the deputy vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, said. “So, [there are] many impacts that we already know will happen without the number of staff needed in our national parks.”
There have already been park closures. Depleted staff at Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park resulted in economic losses and long wait times. On Thursday, Saguaro National Park said its visitor centers would be closed on Mondays “until further notice.” Critical members of national parks have been lost, including Yosemite National Park’s only locksmith. Locksmiths keep track of hundreds of keys to gun safes, bathrooms, gates,and buildings.
“The people that fired me don’t know who I am, or what I do. They simply don’t understand this park and how big and complex it is,” Nate Vince wrote in a post on Instagram.
Of those fired, the affected include emergency medical technicians and scientists, including some employees who had been with the National Park Service for years. Douce said climate research could be stalled because scientists study species in parks.
“They’re moving fast and breaking stuff. It’s just sloppy, it’s hurting people and it’s putting the public at risk, too,” Alex Wild, who was a park ranger at Devils Postpile National Monument and Yosemite, told The Independent last week.
“When somebody undoubtedly needs to get rescued, there’s going to be really nobody there to rescue them, because we don’t have the funds or the resources or the people,” Kathryn Brainerd, who had received a permanent offer to work at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, where General Robert E. Lee signed the surrender of the Confederate forces, said.
Her offer was scrapped as part of the DOGE cuts.
Some of the 1,000 jobs previously rescinded have since been reinstated, and the Park Service has pledged to hire enough seasonal workers following initial criticism.
“The National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management,” the National Park Service said in a statement provided to The Independent. “We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks.”
With a busy summer season on the horizon, remaining employees are still preparing to receive approximately 325 million visitors to their 428 parks, as well as historic sites, national seashores and other areas.
With cuts, visitors should be on their toes. Especially, around bison and other dangerous animals that have been known to go after ignorant guests who take their lives into their own hands.
“You see a lot of things happen in a national park. I remember seeing people try to put their kids in front of a bear and take a picture,” said Francis, who had been with the agency for 41 years before he retired. He served at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Shenandoah, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Yosemite. He was also acting superintendent at the southeastern Great Smoky Mountains National Park: the most visited national park in the country.
“They really don’t completely understand some things that they do are really pretty dangerous,” he recalled. “You know, walking out to the hot pools in Yellowstone: not a good idea. Taking a picture of a buffalo: not a good idea.”
The parks should be fully staffed in order to keep people safe, both Francis and Douce asserted. There are hundreds of deaths in the park each year, and multiple women were gored by Yellowstone bison in the past couple of years.
“We are worried about visitors having a less than enjoyable experience in our national parks because of a lack of rangers to help guide them, restrooms to be cleaned, trails to be maintained … So, they should prepare to lessen their expectations,” Douce said.
Cuts over recent years have already hurt the parks, with inadequate staff and budgets as parks have felt the strain of increased visits.
“They’re already doing more with less,” Douce noted.
