Feb 16, 2025
The Trump administration’s determination to reduce the size of
government regardless of the cost is having a hard impact on the
National Park Service.
Last month the agency was forced to rescind job offers to seasonal
workers, saw a hold placed on millions of dollars distributed
through the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act to
address climate change, been told to prepare a reduction-in-force
list of employees, and ordered to "hire no more than one
employee for every four" let go.
There was a wee bit of good news late last week, with the decision
Friday to allow the Park Service to hire 5,000 seasonal workers.
But at the same time, the agency was told to fire 1,000
probationary workers.
Discussing these developments and their impact on the parks and the
Park Service are Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of
government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association,
and Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s
National Parks.