Yosemite National Park is facing a “catastrophic” staffing shortage because of the Trump administration’s hiring freeze and attempt to slash federal spending.
In recent weeks the White House has rescinded hundreds of job offers and layoffs are incoming as the park is set to enter its busiest season, according to reports. It comes as Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon is on the brink of retirement.
Current and former National Park Service staffers, nonprofit leaders and other experts told SFGATE that the park’s efforts, decades in the making, to protect its ecosystems are going awry.
Former Yosemite Superintendent Don Neubacher called the staffing shortage “catastrophic” when speaking to the outlet. National Wildlife Federation Regional Executive Director Beth Pratt said she has “never seen anything like this in my 55 years.”
“Just to want to gut the Park Service? I don’t understand it,” she added.
A founding member of tour operator Echo Adventure Cooperative, Elizabeth Barton, called the situation “terrifying.”
“We’re deeply concerned about the long-term health of Yosemite National Park under the current administration,” Barton told SFGATE.
The national park has about 750 staff members in the summer, according to Gripped magazine. Those staff members are responsible for 1.6 million visitors in the summer and the park’s 750,000 acres.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order freezing hiring in the federal government. Thousands of employees in the middle of their onboarding processes were told in emails that their job offers were rescinded.
Rangers and fee technicians collecting fees at entrances and campgrounds who were two months into the hiring process were suddenly let go, leading to chaos at the park as it appeared that the hiring freeze had been improperly applied to seasonal staff.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a memo on January 20 stating that there were some exemptions to the hiring freeze, including that “seasonal employees and short-term temporary employees necessary to meet traditionally recurring seasonal workloads” weren’t included.
But days passed without any corrective action. On January 28, the Trump administration offered a buyout to millions of federal staff, including Yosemite employees. The emails sent to staff discussed future reductions to the federal workforce.
The emails warned that “we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity.”
On Thursday, the Trump administration extended its efforts to fire thousands of probationary workers, who have usually been employed for less than a year or, in some cases, two years. Trump officials have been setting their sights on probationary workers as they have fewer job protections and don’t have the right to appeal.
The Trump administration sent more emails on February 6, rescinding job offers to more seasonal Park Service workers. This included law enforcement rangers, firefighters and EMTs. Positions related to public safety were supposed to be exempt from the freeze.
On February 11, The Washington Post reported that some job offers were re-issued to law enforcement rangers and public safety dispatchers, but how many remains unclear.
An anonymous Yosemite staffer told SFGATE, “There’s a lot of fear right now, but nobody even knows who is making these decisions anymore.”
“Those of us left are being told to be prepared for chaos and having to cover,” the staffer added in reference to the possible lack of a reservation system for prospective visitors to the park.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which is in charge of the National Park Service, told SFGATE in a statement that the department “is implementing President Donald J. Trump’s Hiring Freeze Executive Order across the federal civilian workforce.”
“The order allows for exemptions for certain positions, including those related to public safety,” the spokesperson added. “The Department is working to hire key positions that will continue to protect public and tribal lands, infrastructure, and communities from the impacts of wildfires through hazardous fuels management, wildfire preparedness, and close collaboration with interagency partners.”
