On Oct. 20, during the shutdown, the Interior Department detailed plans to cut nearly 2,000 jobs—including 272 at the Park Service—was made public. Conservation groups immediately warned that such damage would spread throughout the park.
“It will harm natural and cultural resource protection and critical construction and maintenance projects if it goes through,” said Kristen Brengel, NPCA’s senior vice president of government affairs. Reuters. And while the largest parks can absorb some of the losses, smaller parks with less staff may not. “(They) have no other way to get support,” added Bill Wade, executive director of the National Park Rangers Association. The Washington Post.
The loss of regional capacity and leadership has also degraded visitor services in less obvious ways, from slow emergency responses to delayed maintenance schedules. Other services, such as hospitality offerings, are contracted out to private companies rather than provided by federal employees. But even this privatization is no guarantee of quality. Yosemite’s hospitality company, Aramark, was rated “marginal” for performance in 2023, then “unsatisfactory” by a National Park Service inspection in 2024.
“It looks like the park experience is going to be completely different in the coming years – it’s not going to be about connecting with nature and preserving these beautiful places,” Alex told me. “My colleagues and I are public servants. We love this place, and at the end of the day we just want to be able to help people. That’s why we’re here.”