By Hayden Randolph
The Trump Administration has fired around 1,000 employees from the National Park Service. The decision came from the Elon Musk led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who is seeking ways to cut government spending and lessen the federal deficit.
Bill Wade, Executive Director of the Association of National Park Rangers, has dedicated his entire life to the National Park Service by following in the steps of his father to become a National Park Ranger.
“It was fairly easy for me. My father was a Park Ranger and I was actually raised in a National Park, Mesa Verde National Park in Southwest Colorado. So, all the time that I was growing up, I was in a park. I was exposed to park values,” said Wade.
Wade said the National Park Service employees are upset about the layoffs.
“I think I would probably be safe in saying that the morale of the employees who are still in the National Park Service is probably as low as it’s ever been,” he said. “They are very upset. Many of them are very angry and I’ve heard the term devastated used quite a bit.”
According to NBC News, Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, said that the decision was made to “protect America’s abundant natural resources” in addition to improving the efficiency of the federal government for Americans.
However, backlash rolled in with questions about how efficiency would improve without employees to manage the parks.
The New York Times said, “With more than 325 million annual visitors, the parks have been struggling to meet the demand: The total number of full-time National Park Service employees dropped 15 percent from 2011 to 2022, according to figures the agency provided to Congress in 2023.”
The Trump Administration said there is a plan to hire seasonal employees. Even so, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Republican, expressed concerns, AP News reports.
“[Arcadia National Park will] not be able to hire the seasonal employees required to collect entrance fees and perform other essential tasks such as maintaining trails and providing first responder services to visitors,” said Collins
The National Park Service said its mission is “[to preserve] unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”
Dr. Daniel Huber, Chair of the Environmental Studies Department at the University of Tampa, said the recent layoffs of Park Service Rangers will affect the attainability of this mission.
“These cuts will diminish the capacity of the National Park Service to achieve its mission. The goal of these cuts is stated as ‘efficiency’, but efficiency means that you achieve the same outcome at a lower cost (i.e., more bang for your buck)” he said.
“I believe that the intent of these cuts is to diminish capacity, not improve efficiency, because the same outcome cannot be achieved with dramatically reduced staffing and budgets,” said Huber.
“It makes me a little disheartened,” said Caroline Teto, a sophomore Environmental Studies student at the University of Tampa. “I know the impact it will cause, and I know the damage it will cause. Even if it’s only four years, it’s four years we’ll never get back,” said Teto.
Wade said the view on the future of the National Park Service and the Park Ranger profession is uncertain.
“Everybody, like I said, is upset and angry and confused,” said Wade.