The National Park Service has let go about 1,000 workers under President Trump’s orders. The U.S. Forest Service is also slashing another 3,400 jobs.
The employees who lost their jobs were in their probationary period, meaning they had just been hired. That includes Brian Gibbs, a father of two and an NPS ranger at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, who had landed what he described as his dream job eight months ago.
“You’re losing people that are keeping the bathrooms clean, the trails maintained,” Gibbs wrote in a Facebook post. “You’re losing people who are teaching youth the value of protecting and preserving these places for current and future generations.”
The cuts represent about 10% of the U.S. Forest Service workforce and about 5% of Park Service employees.
The National Parks Conservation Association warns that the mass firings “will wreak havoc on the National Park System.” In a statement, they wrote in part, “Staffing cuts of this magnitude will have devastating consequences for parks and communities.”
However, the Trump administration has reversed its plan to prevent the National Park Service from hiring 5,000 seasonal workers, slightly easing some of the concerns that linger ahead of the busy travel season.
National Park News
Tell us how to stand up to these corrupt maneuverings. The NPS is part of what defines democracy.