While the impact of the federal hiring freeze on wildfire fighters has been widely published, here’s another concern. A group of U.S. senators is concerned that national parks could likewise be impacted. In a letter to newly minted Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum, they raise the specter of national parks closing to the public.
Revoked job offers presage potential of national parks closing
The letter, sent February 7, is from 21 U.S. senators across the country and urges Burgum to reinstate revoked job offers to seasonal National Park Service employees. These workers are the ones who support tasks like cleaning, staffing visitor centers, and guiding tours, which are crucial for park operations. The senators’ letter highlights that many of these workers had their offers pulled just days after the inauguration. The letter warns that their loss could lead to major issues at national parks this summer.
“Without seasonal staff during this peak season, visitor centers may close, bathrooms will be filthy, campgrounds may close, guided tours will be cut back or altogether canceled, emergency response times will drop, and visitor services like safety advice, trail recommendations, and interpretation will be unavailable,” wrote the senators.
But the concerns run deeper. The potential of some national parks closing completely is raised.
Deferred resignations, voluntary early retirement, threats of termination
“We are also alarmed that the administration’s offer of deferred resignation and voluntary early retirement, made without clear legal authority, as well as open threats about future terminations will lead to a damaging loss of full-time staff at the National Park Service, which is already operating well below prior staffing levels despite significant increases in visitation,” the senators continued.
“As a result of onerous budget caps during the 2010s, the National Park Service lost 15% of its staff while park visitation also increased by 15%. If a significant number of National Park Service employees take one of the offers—or further terminations are made—park staffing will be in chaos. Not only does this threaten the full suite of visitor services, but could close entire parks altogether.”
RVers no strangers to national park pressures
The lawmakers aren’t the only ones coming forward with concern. Conservation groups and park advocates have also raised alarms about the potential strain caused by losing both seasonal and longtime employees. National park visitation is on the rise—Yellowstone reached more than 4.7 million visitors in 2024—and crowds peak during the summer, putting pressure on park infrastructure. RVers are more than familiar with such issues as more and more of the nation’s park treasures have instituted entry reservation systems to deal with the pressure. The possibility of national parks closing is even worse.
The senators concluded, “Americans showing up to national parks this summer and for years to come don’t deserve to have their vacations ruined by a completely preventable—and completely irresponsible—staffing shortage. And local economies don’t deserve to have their livelihoods destroyed for political gain. We urge your cooperation in protecting national parks for the enjoyment of everyone by ensuring National Park Service staffing meets the needs of the 433 national park units in all 50 states.”
You can read the entire letter here.
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##RVT1196b
The “New Administration” seems to be determined to sow as much chaos as possible in a move to overwhelm any opposition to drastically increasing the power of the Executive Branch. They are even now floating the idea that the Judicial Branch should not have any say in the legality of what the Executive Branch does. Ignoring the courts would destroy the checks and balances mandated by the Constitution, yet that seems to be exactly where we are going.
Don’t you just hate it when the judiciary is ignored… you know, like SCOTUS ruling on Student Loan debt forgiveness and they kept on doing it anyhow.
Let me know AFTER SCOTUS rules on any of your concerns. Win some, lose some but at least we will get some clarity.
Our 250 year old republic won’t crumble if Guided Tours at NPs are paused for a season or if visitor centers are understaffed this summer. I prefer that we save the republic. Winning and Winning and Winning.
Thank you Mr. Orange !
MEGA-MAGA
Few days, maybe a few weeks but it is a losing fight in the courts.
Either your for transparency or your against transparency. Can’t have it both ways.🤣😂🤸♂️🤸♀️🤸♂️🤸♀️🤸♂️🤸♀️🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
I’ll make this simple. Every single politician from both sides of equation has promised transparency. To open the books. Every single one of us that has ever cast a vote in the last 50 years, cast a vote for a candidate of either stripe based on a platform promise of transparency.
For the first time in any of our lives we are getting actual transparency. We are seeing the fraud, waste and abuse up close and personal. We may not like the guy that’s doing it but every single one of you voted for transparency at some time.
Is the fight now against transparency or is it just because the radical Left was caught with a $250 billion slush fund? OPEN ALL THE BOOKS. THIS IS OUR COUNTRY.
I don’t think any of the possibly illegal shyster moves this administration and his Oligarch buddies is making have any whiff of transparency. Just look at trump’s real business record of bankruptcy and delinquent or non-existent payments for services. I don’t think those companies saw any transparency in those schemes. Some of us that RV full time are seeing the results of the past budget cuts from 2016-2020 in our forests and parks. Here we go again.
OK, so I’ll put you in column that is FOR $40,000,000.00 to the Wuhan Lab from USAID. Got it.
LOL Hahaha. 🤸♀️🤸♂️🤣😂
Your attacking the man, not the policy that he openly ran on, and WON (thats transparency). When Clinton cut 377,000 federal jobs in the 90s and balanced the budget with Gingrich, you felt the same???? Yeah??? I thought so. 🤑🤑🤑🤑
As long as we are talking about transparency, maybe we could be told who was running the country the last 4 years. We all know who it wasn’t.
Wouldn’t that be a refreshing dose of transparency.
Lots of Fear Mongering from those who loved the blatant corruption. But the problem to them is with the new, same as the prior old, president. Pathetic.
Same attitude as those claims of Trump causing the wildfires that torched California. It’s everyone’s fault, but the ones who created the problem. Both voters and the elected.
Anarchist Trump has no interest in transparency. The more harm and anguish he can bestow on others makes him happy because he has a persecution complex and is constantly attempting to “get even”. He is mentally ill, and too many are allowing a lunatic to ruin our country.
A lot of people are mentally ill….. good news tho, TDS can be cured by a strong dose of common sence. 🤣😂🔥
Thank you for the update, Russ and Tina! I guess we’ll see how things go. Have a great week and safe travels!
Well, this story went south in a hurry. Note that the senators that “signed the letter” were of one party. Why? Certainly not because of altruistic tendencies, but rather an attempt to build opposition to the current Administration’s efforts to expose the rampant fraud and waste permeating the federal system. (USAID and DOE, nonexclusive). Why? Cutting waste affects a bloated workforce that is the powerbase to that party. Further, it affects the interest groups that advance their agendas via “campaign contributions.” Thomas Jefferson said the cornerstone of democracy rests on the foundation of an educated electorate. Well, that cornerstone is crumbling, shifting from enlightenment
(cont) to reliance on emotions, feelings, and narrowly focused gratification. Researching a topic takes time that most are not willing to spend, instead they gnash their teeth, pull their hair, wail at the sky, stomp their feet, and hold their breath over election results they do not agree. We will see more of this for the next four years as some will be relentless in attempts to obstruct real progress.
It is amazing to me that maintaining a high level of hatred for the president supercedes saving the country for so many. You will notice that on the MSM and CNN that not one story is about the actual waste and only about the process. If they can make it a story about the process then they can ignore the REAL story. Call it a constitutional crisis so they don’t have to call it a waste fraud and abuse crisis.
If the HILL that the L. CHOOSES to die on is in the defense of a trillion dollars of waste, OK with me but that is why 18-30 year olds are 10 points positive for R’s. They don’t get news from CNN or the MSM. Seems like the wrong fight, but whatever, have at it, or get informed.
The good news Grumpy is that all the court rulings will all be overturned in upper courts. The insanity of a judge ruling (straight faced) that the Secretary of The Treasury can’t see the books of the Treasury is laughable. The FEMA Director can’t review the books at FEMA? The Elected Chief Executive of THE EXECUTIVE Branch can’t review The Excecutive Branch Books.
The idea that unelected employees have UNFETTERED ability to SPEND tax dollars but someone ELECTED has no say in the spending of those TAX dollars.
The FEMA employees that sent $59mm to NYC Hotels last week, defying the directive from 2 weeks prior, will be in jail soon. FAFO.
Enjoy the ride Grumpy, I am. 🫠
The next four years will be awesome!
Amen.
I’ve heard it all now
I always get such a laugh from your comments! They are always the most ludicrous of the bunch!!!!
Seems a lot of readers are fans of NPR, CNN, and the New York Times. As I mentioned in an earlier edition, we all know there are trillions of dollars of waste going on in our government. But as soon as someone tries to rein it in (or at least some of it), everyone cries about their favorite waste being eliminated. Yup, it’s gonna hurt, but it has to be done.
Maybe we shut down all the parks for one year. Oh no, Mr Bill!
It’s been a growing cancer for 50+ years. Time to take the credit card away from Jr.
Regardless of party preferences, any taxpayer that is against seeking out corruption, waste and fraud is either a benefactor or an idiot. Not trying to offend, just dumbfounded at the incredulous stupidity of those defending the status quo.
Our government is literally borrowing money to pay debt and that’s insane. It’s akin to taking a high interest payday loan to make payments on a home improvement loan on an apartment you’re renting…..
While I voted for Trump, I didn’t vote for chaos that Musk and DOGE are doing. There are ways to cut fraud and waste diplomacely. Not firing thousands of workers who have no control of what politicians and top management is passing down and caused. Plus when you working for the government like Musk and do business with the government it is a conflict of interest. Some of the commenters that are for this chaos. Be forewarned it may hit something dear to you. I just hope it doesn’t hurt our veterans, senior citizens and poor.
The orange felon selected Musk, but you keep defending him! It has already affected veterans! I was at a veterans fundraising event over the weekend, I learned that up to 80% of the axed federal employees are veterans.
Let’s see; the article started with the possibility of our Nat’l Parks closing, which could affect RVers, and by the end of reading the comments, I felt like I was forced to watch two conservative news stations while simultaneously watching two liberal stations, and I thought I had given up watching the news altogether in order to save my sanity. I did not flee to Canada during Vietnam, so I thought I still had that chit left, but now Canada, Mexico and Panama may all be out of the question and Greenland is just too cold. Please let me retire and read in peace. I’m leaving my shop now and going to take a nap in my RV in my driveway.