National Park Workers Forced to Help Plan Their Own Job Cuts
The National Park Service has told thousands of workers to send in their resumes quickly, even as they continue their daily tasks of protecting visitors, cleaning facilities, and filling in for coworkers who have already left.
Park employees received an email last week ordering them to submit updated resumes by Tuesday noon as more job cuts are coming soon.
“The Department continues to evaluate workforce optimization opportunities”, writes SFGATE, quoting an email from Rita Moss, an associate director at the Park Service. “This includes plans for reductions-in-force, with exemptions for positions that are critical to public safety” or are linked to the “highest priority programs.”
100 leadership positions empty
The Trump administration is still making the federal government smaller, including the Department of the Interior which manages national parks. The agency already has 100 leadership positions empty and 2,400 fewer employees than last year.
Even workers who have been with the parks for decades must turn in resumes, which some may not even have. They need to include all jobs they’ve held, their responsibilities, education, and training.
Legally mandated mission
A group called Resistance Rangers, with over 1,000 off-duty park rangers, warned: “These reductions would paralyze the ability of the NPS to carry out its legally mandated mission.”
The park service has already lost 20% of its workforce over the past 15 years, while the number of park visitors has grown by more than 15%.
Recent changes have hit parks hard. In April, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered parks to stay “open and accessible” despite staff cuts. Parks must get permission from Washington before closing any facilities. Staff were told not to share information about record visitor numbers from 2024.
The effects are already showing. In Yosemite National Park, scientists, rangers, IT staff and even leaders are now cleaning campground bathrooms because there aren’t enough custodians.
