Within the first 50 days of his presidency, Trump has signed an Executive Order continuing the reduction of the federal bureaucracy, introduced to him by Elon Musk and his newly established Department of Government Efficiency. According to the White House, this order aims to decrease the size of the federal government in order to “enhance accountability, reduce waste, and promote innovation.”
Of the countless departments and administrations that have been hit hard due to these mass layoffs, the National Park Service is no exception. On Feb. 14 at least 1,000 National Park Service and 3,400 U.S Forest Service employees were terminated as part of Trump and Musk’s plans for federal workforce reductions. Rangers involved in park education, interpretation, and running visitor centers, were all affected, while rangers involved with public safety, law enforcement and emergency response services were exempt from this action.
Rangers affected were those on their probationary period, however, according to the Federal News Network, most of these employees have been working for upwards of six or seven years as seasonal employees before they could receive a permanent appointment. “So, all of those people who were in that status were indiscriminately fired, regardless of how long they’d worked previously or the positions they were in, other than public safety.”
At a time where national park visits are at an all time high – with nearly 332 million people visiting across the county last year – and predicted to continuously skyrocket, national park employees are essential to a smooth and pleasant visit. As a result of these mass layoffs, park visitors could expect reduced hours at visitor centers, tours of popular attractions led by rangers to be canceled, waiting times to increase, unclean bathrooms and habitat and trail restoration to be slowed. Frequent park visitor and senior Mia Silbert anticipates that “It will be busier than usual and trail maintenance will be lacking. If the open hours are more limited, I may not go as much as I don’t want to go when it’s overcrowded.”
If such actions continue, citizens can expect a ripple effect. Senior and AP research student Savannah Thompson-Jones is researching the appearance of the Yellowstone Wolf Project in local versus national news and how this project has been spoken about in the media between 1995 and 2000. “I’ve always been passionate about environmental issues, especially how threats to wildlife and habitats are constantly growing. The layoffs are a major concern especially as this might just be the start of the dissolution of national parks, which can completely alter the ecosystem of our country and the planet as well.”
According to CBS News, the national parks in Maryland account for $340 million of the state’s economy and, with dwindling rangers left to create a worthwhile experience within our national parks, we can expect a plethora of issues to arise from this action. While the Department of the Interior reports that attempts will be made to reinstate some seasonal employees, the effort is just not enough. “I don’t know exactly what [Trump] expects to happen, but these are people who have critical jobs and are crucial in preserving wildlife and important nature reserves that will probably be severely damaged as a result and I think that’s incredibly disappointing,” senior Anna Lizondo said.
Maryland has a variety of local and state parks that are great for recreation and I would advise you to visit while you can. “My favorite is definitely Old Rag mountain in Shenandoah as the views are stunning but as for closer to home, Billy Goat on the C&O canal is my go to,” Silbert said.
