Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement that the Trump administration “will protect the abundant natural resources of the United States while rationalizing federal agencies to better serve the US people.”
The National Parks Service did not respond to a request for comments.
In the National Postpile Devils monument, in East California, Alex Wild said he was often the first to arrive when a hiker or campist was experiencing a health emergency. Until last week, it was the only EMT Ranger of the park in the staff that could perform RCP. He is now worried that people have to wait hours to arrive at the first to respond premises when there is a potentially deadly situation.
“It could mean life or death for someone who has an emergency,” he said.
Democratic legislators denounced federal employment cuts, calling the purchase offers of the beginning of February “harmful and mine” in a letter signed by 20 Democratic senators.
The letter also warned that mass cuts could create “staff chaos” in national parks.
“This not only threatens the complete set of visiting services, but could close the entire parks,” the senators wrote.
Kristen Brengel, from the National Parks Conservation Agency, said the terminations reflect a “bad commercial decision” of the Trump administration. The parks attract millions of visitors every year; In 2023, they supported approximately 415,000 jobs and $ 55.6 billion in total economic activity, according to the Senate Charter. They are economically crucial for entry communities and attract a large and bipartisan base that covers all ages and demography.
“Americans have said this and again, we want to have places that are not marketed,” he said.
In Denali National Park and preservation in Alaska, sled dogs are one of the biggest attractions for tourists every year. People come from all over the world to meet the Canine Rangers, learn about the work they do in the park and see demonstrations.
Mitch Flaherty was part of a small dog staff who took care of the 31 dogs. His experience training, feeding and directing the canines made him an essential employee during the Covid Pandemia, when Denali closed.
It is optimal to have three to five people who work with the four -legged rangers, who participate in three demonstrations per day during the high season, he said. The kennel’s team is now depressed to a person after Flaherty was fired last week, which could affect the way tourists interact with sled dogs.
“If we don’t have enough staff, we don’t direct dogs during demonstrations,” he said. “Visitors are always discouraged if they cannot see dogs really working and pulling the cart. It is definitely the main attraction. “
Recently, the personnel cuts in the forest service led to the closing of a popular path and a snow park near Seattle called Franklin Falls Trailhead, which receives more than 1,000 visitors on occupied days.
“It is a super popular path throughout the year,” said Jon Hoekstra, executive director of the mountains for Sound Greenway Trust, a non -profit conservation organization based in Seattle. “There are no first -line forest service staff that would normally be there for security, for sanitation, to clean, to help people in case of trouble. Those people are not there now and they will not be there. ”
Hoekstra said that the forest service was also a criminal in the invoices that its non -profit organization had presented for the conservation work funded by the Great American Outdoors Law, which included the restoration of the habitat and the improvements at the beginning of the path.
“Putting a freezing in these payments is not preceded in my 10 years” with the trust, Hoekstra said. “It’s very unusual. Most federal contracts are based on reimbursement. We enter the work and there is a budget and, as expenses are incurred, we present invoices and pay them. “
Sydney Hansen, a 24 -year -old physical science technique, said he left Jewel Cave in Dakota del Sur, the second longest cave in the country, on Friday afternoon to a message he needed to see the Superintendent immediately.
Hansen removed his knees, the helmet, the elbow pads, the package of caves and the muddy boots, after finishing his qualifications to lead cave tours in the national monument, and began to cry.
“They made us dirty, and I don’t appreciate it at all,” Hansen said this week. “I am proud of all the work I did and I was proud to work for the parks service and I know that this is not necessarily the fault of the park service. I am not happy or completely proud of our government. “
The termination letter said that “it had not demonstrated aptitude or qualifications for continuous employment” and that its experience did not meet the needs of the service.
Hansen’s performance reviews, obtained by NBC News, suggested otherwise. Hansen “exceeds expectations,” according to the review, which described it as a quick apprentice that was “careful and precise in all her work” and always prepared for tasks on the ground and underneath.
Hansen offered Tours of Cuevas to visitors, helped lead the exploration in the cave network of more than 220 miles and helped with the projects of biology, cartography and wildlife. The cave will not be so safe without it and visitors will probably not have so many options to make a tour, said Hansen.
