[A photo of Grand Canyon National Park. Photo Credit to Flickr]

The Trump administration terminated around 1,000 newly hired National Park service employees as a part of federal efforts to downsize the government.

These employees performed tasks such as cleaning parks, educating visitors, managing wildlife, conducting ecosystem surveys, and handling various functions across the 433 national parks throughout the U.S.

These layoffs are part of a larger initiative that dismissed en masse about 10,000 federal employees, carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk.

The terminations were not publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members.

In a signed letter, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Angus King of Maine, along with another 20 senators, stated, “park staffing will be in chaos. Not only does this threaten the full suite of visitor services, but could close entire parks altogether.”

In response to potentially short-staffed parks, the Park Service said it will reinstate around 5,000 seasonal jobs that were initially halted as part of a federal spending freeze ordered by President Trump.

Despite this, park advocates argue these temporary staffing will not adequately replace permanent staff cuts, raising concerns over understaffed parks facing problems regarding operating hours, public safety, and resource protection.

Kristen Brengle, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, warned, “They’re basically knee-capping the very people who need to train seasonally.”

Brengle further added that in Wyonming’s Grand Teton National Park, eliminating 16 of 17 supervisory positions has left one person to hire, train, and supervise dozens of seasonal employees to manage thousands of visitors who visit for the park’s grizzly bears and bison.

While park advocates voiced concerns about the management, safety, and viability of National Parks after the staff cut, others criticized the inefficiency of the executive decision.

Senator Patty Murray. D-wash., vice chair of the Appropriations panel, blamed Trump and Musk, saying, “There is nothing ‘efficient’ about indiscriminately firing thousands upon thousands of workers in red and blue states whose work is badly needed.”

The budget cut to the National Parks could also reduce tourism in the parks, which could lead to decreased tax collection and negative impacts on local economies.

Public opinion on the matter has been predominantly negative.

In a survey by YouGov in 2022, over 41% of Americans answered their overall opinion of the National Park Service as “Very Favorable” and another 34% as “Somewhat favorable.”

To the same question, 49% of Democratic, 33% of Independent party, and 44% of Republican aligned participants answered “Very Favorable.”

Among discord online, many citing this case as representative of the effects of federal job cuts by DOGE backed by the Trump administration.

In the comments of a YouTube Short reporting on the issue, one user evoked Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, known for his advocacy and love for National Parks, saying, “You hear that? That's the sound of Teddy Roosevelt spinning in his grave so fast it could solve the energy crisis if you hooked up a generator to it.”