America’s Best Idea Needs Your Help
This is the story of a park ranger who, in their time with the National Park Service, gave innumerable tours for school kids of all ages. Their approachable demeanor, kindness, and thoroughness was noticed time and time again in subsequent emails sent from grateful teachers. This same park ranger also resonated with individuals who came to the park seeking to connect with the past. One thankful visitor wrote afterwards: “The presentations. . . were outstanding. You can tell that each person there has a passion for our history and telling its story.”
This is the story of a park ranger who spent years as an intern and a seasonal before finally getting a permanent position. Besides being an interpreter, this park ranger undertook training to get red carded—a status meaning to be qualified to fight wildfires. This duty was not required of them—it was a voluntary collateral, undertaken because this person wanted to help.
This is the story of a park ranger who has been interviewed for numerous documentaries as a subject matter expert. . .
. . . all three people were fired yesterday. They were three out of almost 1,000 employees let go from the National Park Service—not because they were underperforming or not necessary, but because they were probationary employees. Their only shortcoming was being individuals with less than one full year in permanent status. To be clear, these people were not new hires—they have dedicated years of their lives as interns or seasonals to get to this point, to get one of the extremely hard and rare attainable goals of a permanent park ranger.
Why should this matter to readers at ECW? At some sites, nearly entire interpretive staffs were wiped out. Employees like the three above staff the visitor centers that millions of visitors a year flock to. They give the tours that introduce people to the resources that make these places so valuable to us as a national identity. They check the junior ranger booklets that are going to ignite the spark for kids to become the next generation of historians and caretakers of these special places. They research and reveal stories hitherto hidden for generations. They are, to put it mildly, not becoming generationally wealthy doing this work.
These firings will undoubtedly have an impact on visitor services in the months and years to come. They already have. More and more sites will have fewer and fewer staff. Opening hours will be slashed to accommodate the lack of proper and safe staffing levels. These impacts will be felt across the gamut of sites within the National Park Service—from battlefields and monuments, caves and calderas, forests and parkways.
National Parks have been touted as “America’s best idea.” When the service was created in 1916 its enabling legislation called to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” But those parks are hurting right now, and desperately needs its friends and defenders to call out for aid. Not just for the three rangers at the top of this piece, but for all of us, to abide by that last clause— “the enjoyment of future generations.”
The opinions in this piece are only the author’s and do not reflect the views of any employer past or present.
Thank you for speaking out, Ryan. I am going to contact my rep in Congress about this matter. You are one of the many NPS Rangers who I’ve spoken with while visiting an NPS site. I’m shocked and appalled by what is happening.
As sad as this story is, it’s a fact of life that we need to make painful decisions sometimes. Over the next several years you’re going to hear many more stories like this as somebody else’s ’ox gets gored’. But the fact is that the Federal Government’s Credit Card is maxed out! The Country is 36 Trillion dollars in debt, and climbing. We are living well beyond our means. Maybe the Park Service needs to consider more user fees at their facilities, so that those who value the situation do more to support it. My son and I spent a recent Sunday visiting the Fort Donelson National Battlefield. All we spent there was $50 or so, buying shirts in the Visitor’s Center. I’m sure the Park Service got something out of that purchase, but not much. I would have been glad to pay $10 or $15 for entry ( I also have a NPS Visitor Pass that I purchased at Vicksburg several years ago, and have never needed to use!). Unfortunately, the Federal Government can’t, and shouldn’t be, everything for everybody. It’s gotten too big, and too bloated, and apparently out of control. We either tighten our belt, and take some of the pain involved, or we watch the whole thing crumble.
Do you know what percentage of the federal budget the NPS? Btw, not everyone has the means to pay for souvenirs or entrance fees. And people will complain about that, too. I’ve been screamed at for stating that the park I formerly worked at cost $10 to visit.
I concur. And if the debt and waste gets under control that could be more to spend on national park services in the future.
If we ignore everything that’s happening and has been threatened to come, and invent a happier hypothetical instead, we can all pretend this is normal!
If things continue, the Park Service as you know it won’t be there in the future. Federal employment comprises just 1.87% of the American workforce and only 4.3% of the federal budget amounts to federal workforce compensation. The NPS in particular has relied on low paid seasonal employees and volunteers because the agency has been underfunded and understaffed for years. It is ridiculous to think this indiscriminate firing is going to “trim the fat” enough to make up for billions of dollars. And ironically enough, the man slashing the federal workforce is the same who is getting billions worth of government subsidies. If you support this type of action I hope you don’t plan to visit these natural and historical sites.
And how is what the National Park Service doing waste? Not every park has an entrance fee. Besides, Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 to revitalize the National Park, and this purge by DOGE is not conducive to the effective enforcement of that law.
Edward,
If they cut the debt by a trillion that won’t be a hypothetical.
National Parks should be for _all_ Americans, not just the ones who can pay.
1. Many NPS units are free entry. 2. An America the Beautiful Annual Pass is like $80 and good for unlimited entry into every NPS and even several pay for BLM sites. To put that in perspective, that’s one movie night for a family of four with some popcorn…
A dagger to the heart of a crucial and beloved service to save what amounts to a minuscule percentage off of what is already a minuscule percentage of the federal budget so that in a year we can pass another series of tax cuts for the wealthy making this sacrifice absolutely worthless towards trimming the deficit.
Not everyone can afford to pay entrance fees. These are national resources that belong to all Americans–why should we have to pay to access them when we’re already paying to preserve and protext them with our tax dollars? It would be terrible to set up a system where only wealthy people can experience and enjoy our national treasures.
The govt may be bloated sure, it may be inefficient yes, but trimming fat with a hammer isn’t really trimming fat. These rangers who’ve been fired won’t be able to protect places like Fort Donelson. Adding a fee can bring in revenue for the park but it’s not without effective leadership can it work. But what is the point of having an effective leader if they have no employees to actually implement the improvements and actions the parks want? Those employees being fired are the only ones who breath life into the service because those who stay long enough are, more often than not, beat down and tired. It’s not until a new employee or hell even a volunteer/intern comes can effective change bring motivation and hope to an otherwise miserable agency.
If your goal is to fix the credit of the country don’t cut into the “greatest idea” this country has ever had. Cut funding to things like the military budget where a few aircraft can cover the entirety of the NPS budget 3 times over. And also, removing employees who are brand new haven’t had time to become the fat DOGE wants to cut. The probationary employees are a vulnerable and easy target low lives go after because they know they can. Instead they should go for the harder targets making 6 figures so the new rangers coming in can make real change
Stan, where is your soul? You must not feel it in mortal danger speaking like that to someone in need of kindness and empathy. Clearly, you enjoy traveling in consciousness of your AntiChrist buddies who are responsible for this wide scale suffering. You did not offer your heart or human aspect when you chose to interact this way. You were a coward, like all of your tiny souled, mean big money boys you chose to emulate. I have been here, reading project small soul 25 documents, your Republicanism you show you are willing to forgo your humanity for. Oh, and be sure, I’m no Democrat either, though they have shown heart far larger than you old elephants have. I’m the middle finger Stan, and you can concider your one opportunity to show what you are made of usec poorly. You’re a bully, and though you all have hurt people in the name of money, and we know God deals not with money, so you will be valued as you have selected. Project 25, Republican, do not dare speak to the Lord’s beautification as if any form of what is happening here is involving God’s grace. What awaits you, and all your fragile, selfish, big bad right wing men, women, and AntiChrist mimics of small minded views is to receive God’s wrath of poisoned states of existing. On loops may your anxieties rage, any trace of love or peace vanish, and bad fortune dog you while you over a long life that’s end open to hellfire. I wash my hands of you… unless you glory in a changed light of brotherhood should our paths cross again. Tell them all check their souls’ deep repent, and am happy to reveal what in them I see.
National Park Service has had frozen budgets for 12 years while posts have increased. This means actual funding has declined. How much more do you want?
Sad that this article had to be written, but so important nonetheless.
Trump seems on a mission to destroy this country before he is finished. Dropping decent people like those mentioned above/CDC staff(like we don’t need a Center for Disease Control?)/nuclear watchdog staff, etc. What God-awful choices we Americans had in the Nov ’24 election for Prez. The correct answer would have been “None of the above”. Trump has never given a damn about our country; disrespecting WW1 soldiers at the Aisle-Marne cemetery(“they were suckers & losers”). That’s about verbatim what trump’s Chief of Staff(General Kelly) said. Of course, all hard-core trumpets will deny that(FAUX News, anybody?). This guy’s brain capacity is no better than Biden’s and trump is a helluva lot nastier.
Err, trumpets, NOT trumpets. Sorry…
trumpers. No typing skills in this corner.
Wow! I really stirred up the libs! Disruptive! As I mentioned, everybody has their sad story. And don’t try to make me feel bad about spending my Social Security money on souvenirs! You make excuses for not cutting the Park Service, Joe Blow says we can’t cut the Department of Education and Gus Gamilch says we can’t touch the DOT. So what’s your solution! Keep the same old, same old; keep increasing the budget every year, even though you know you can’t pay the bills! Is that how you operate your household? Obviously it is, since Consumer debt is also at an all time high. And Congress is worthless! They won’t pass a budget or cut the pork out of spending bills. I’ll just pass on the anti-Trump comments. This isn’t the forum for that discussion.
I don’t think it’s “the libs” you’ve stirred up, Stan. You shouldn’t stereotype like that. I think people who love the NPS and what it does come in all political stripes.
For sure
During President Trump’s first term, he donated part of his salary to restore the Newcomer house on the Antietam battlefield and 5000 feet of rail fencing on the Hagerstown Pike. Ryan makes an excellent point, maybe we can talk him into restoring that program. I believe that President Trump has a heart for our battlefields, so don’t give up hope.
Then why would he do this? It is the irony of this whole story: these cuts will make the implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, which he signed, harder. What happened on Valentine’s Day, at best, shows poor managerial skills on Trump’s part.
Since the current adminstration seems to ignore federal statutes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more battlefield land threatened for data centers developments or a Telsa dealership. American Battlefield Protection Program grants will be cut. I’m not sure the guy who thinks Lee said “Never charge uphill me boys!” is a real student of the war, or appreciates the nuance of its meanings and those who sacrificed their lives. Thinking of you and the rest of the FRSP crew, Ryan.
Well, here’s how I see this situation. Quite a few posts on here do represent quite well the issues we face as a country. Some of them are the old “Not in my backyard” demands, just in a different format. Maybe a better way to put it is “What’s mine is mine, it’s what is yours that is negotiable”.
It is always sad when good and/or competent people are put out of work through no fault of their own. I’m a huge fan of our parks, and the people who work in them. But unfortunately, something has to be done as far as the fiscal mess this country has been in for quite a long time now. The career elected officials we keep employing aren’t doing anything to address the train wreck that is coming. It is truly a longtime, bipartisan failure. The ‘Sequester’ of some years ago proved the Federal government could carry on without the better part of a million Federal workers (and all those workers who were given time off were eventually paid for that time off, so I personally don’t know what was ultimately accomplished!). It did, however, show that the government could function despite reduced employee numbers.
To me, the cuts that have already taken place represent the ‘low hanging fruit’ as far as what does need to be done. Cutting the huge welfare and defense juggernauts, among other budget items, will be far more problematic. But again, there has to be a start somewhere. There will be some painful and ‘unfair’ casualties before it’s done. But I think we owe it to future generations to not bury them under OUR debt. Like it or not, it IS OURS!
Well, you guys deal with this the best that you can. In Canada, across the country we’re boycotting anything coming from the U.S. and people are cancelling their U.S. vacations in droves. Before you say, U.S. can harm your economy more than you can harm ours… Yes, we know that, and we don’t care!
Bravo
Every administration makes cuts and or changes that ultimately lead to people being unfairly targeted or innocently affected. We all have things that are closer to our hearts and of personal importance. Reactions in many cases have become overtly politically partisan. I have often asked individuals why they vehemently dislike an elected official. The vast majority of times they cannot provide an informed or justified response – they usually provide some derogatory response. Financially, suggesting that it is just a small portion of the budget is concerning. All these small expenses actually add up to a substantial amount of money. Fifty thousand, half a million, ten million, two hundred million all add up to an incredible amount of money. Who deserves or not deserves to be let go is always going to be difficult. As such we may have to find alternate avenues to protect that which we are passionate about. Each one is unique. No answer is simple. Life is not fair and we are not entitled to anything. The government and its spending is, and has been, bloated for far too long. Something has to be done.
True the small costs do add up! Like the cost of one airplane, like the cost for attacking another country unprovoked for “our safety,” and building another aircraft carrier! Little things sure do add up there. Oh you meant the NPS! See that’s where little things don’t add up, because those employees on probation generally didn’t cost the taxpayer much more than a few military bases can spend on a training day.
You wanna cut something? Cut their budget and don’t hide behind the idea that “it’s for national security” because it’s not. The DOI and its affiliated organizations are the only groups who actually wanna help retell and teach our history and stories. Don’t cut the VA or any of the veteran benefits because they need that believe me, but don’t tell me we need the newest and greatest plane or helicopter simply because “China” or our “enemies abroad.” For what does it matter if our enemies find us abroad if our home is nothing but hollow smoldering shells of its former grandure.
Can’t wait for the America 250 this year with all 250 employees covering all 433 sites!
I don’t believe I was talking about the NPS. Rather, commenting on the tired excuse that people use when demanding their interests are the most important and cuts to that are insignificant.
20,000 or so people are employed by the NPS. A cut of 1,000 employees is only a 5% deduction in the workforce.
Lyle, most parks are already understaffed, so even a 5% cut in workforce is huge. Now, add on to that the fact the seasonal summer help won’t be coming on. Many parks will be crippled.
Chris, Yes numerous sites have been understaffed but the parks will still be there. Vicksburg may be a good example. I can’t remember the last time I was there and they had a weekly educational program. You might call it a “crippled” park already. Yet it is there for all of us to visit it for a small fee.
A 5% cut seems reasonable to me while attempting to get a handle on the federal government’s finances and personnel organization. I am more optimistic today for the future of our national parks over the long run, because money spent on creating new battlefields elsewhere (and much more) may now be available to spend on our own old battlefields for our future education and enjoyment.
Yes, the parks will still be there, but Vicksburg, which has had a road closure to erosion, won’t get any better after Valentine’s Day. If anything, what happened a few days ago will only exacerbate the situation. Moreover, Lyle, we’re talking predominantly about the firing of employees of national parks already established, and more money made available to “our own old battlefields” won’t be of much use if there are insufficient personnel to exploit it.
I think the comments defending the action might be singing a different tune if it was a politician of a different party behind this. Also, just in general, this article could be a thousand pages long, full of thousands of people’s who’s lives have been disrupted and all of the fallout, but it just wouldn’t click for some. It’s hard to EXPLAIN why you should care about other people. Frankly it’s become near impossible and downright exhausting.
As was the song for those when the previous party was in power. Every political party in power has had the effect of disrupting people. One’s inherent tendency is to vote along ideological lines with absolute surety consisting of little questioning. Not sure that is healthy.
Thank you, Chris Mac. This Killian fellow who called me & others “libs”? My friends would be in hysterics if they thought anyone thought my old Southern self was a “lib”. Why are little trump supporters so sensitive? They cannot take any degree of criticism whatsoever. trump & his buddy Elon chortle about putting some govt programs “through a wood-chipper”. Where is their basic sense of human decency & compassion? Reagan would have acted like this? George HW Bush? McCain? And you nailed it, Chris; our wonderful Nat’l Parks should be for everyone. I have a lifetime senior pass; but I don’t want those who can’t afford to pay to miss out on our parks. trumps golf trips home to Mar-A-Lago are costing citizens about $4 million per trip. How about putting some of THAT money back into hiring/retaining our excellent park rangers?
There are hard issues when cutting back in any organization but I noticed the last two words in the article were “future generations “. Right now we are leaving future generations two trillion dollar deficits and 36 trillion dollars in national debt. Is that showing decency or compassion?
Bill, if you’re going to make cuts, there are way bigger fish. The NPS accounts for less than one percent of the overall Federal budget. Look at the military. It receives so much money that some of it went MIA a few years ago. I would want to make sure every dollar going to our armed forces was present and accounted for.
They are also probationary employees if they transfer from another agency. So, some are actually long-time Federal employees. These mass firings are criminal. There will be litigation over these firings for years and years.
Tom
I generally understand these blanket responses about fiscal management. But to those folks, you’re commenting on a Civil War scholarship and public history forum. Is it not in all our best interests that this historical event and the resources preserving/maintaining it are our most crucial concern?
As some have expressed here, I’m very concerned about the national debt and the refusal of other politicians to do anything about. But instead of dictating the types of cuts that need to be made, I’d favor telling every department that they need to cut their budgets by, say, 10% and let the heads of those departments decide how to accomplish that while minimizing the loss of services to the public. The fear, however, is that those department heads wouldn’t consider public services as the priority and would make cuts that protect their pet projects and personal interests.
Something needs to be done and we can be sure that any solution is going to be painful. So brace yourselves. But I’m glad the conversation has finally started. I just hope that we are strong enough to find solutions rather than just say, “It’s too hard” and give up like every other politician has done.
While it is extremely sad to hear that the NPS rangers are facing this, let’s not forget this has been coming since last summer as approved through the House, Senate, and signed by former President Biden.
Please do not let emotions get the best of you regardless of your political opinion, and start finger pointing without doing some amount of research.
https://www.npca.org/articles/4304-house-s-egregious-funding-cuts-and-harmful-policies-put-future-of-national
Those were cuts already in place, Joel. The new personnel cuts are ON TOP of that.
Chris, did the ECW site here compose any articles about those cuts imposed last year? I don’t recall any, but I sometimes cannot peruse this site on a daily basis, so if one or some articles were written, is there a link or links I can access? Thanks.
Thanks for this post Ryan.
We should all reach out to our respective Congressman and Senators and insist that they make the National Park Service a priority, get it properly funded, and have additional staffing requirements specifically outlined in upcoming appropriations bills and Federal budget proposals. It would also be a good idea to get battlefield preservation groups that have working relationships with the park service, other governmental agencies, and members of congress involved as well.
The American Battlefield Trust might be afraid, lest it alienate its MAGA donors. Congressional Republicans are afraid, too, but the invertebrates might grow a spine if people who voted for Trump in 2024 start complaining to them about these firings.