National parks across the U.S. are bearing down on an uncertain season, as federal layoffs and staffing shortages threaten many of the services they provide for their millions of annual visitors, from reservations to cleanup to education.
The National Park Service (NPS) laid off some 1,000 employees on Feb. 14, just weeks before the start of the busy season in many of the country's 63 national parks.
The layoffs, which targeted probationary workers, are part of a broader effort by President Trump and adviser Elon Musk to downsize the federal workforce. NPS officials have testified that the agency was already understaffed — the number of full-time employees dropped by about 15% between 2011 and 2022, forcing some visitor facilities to close or limit their hours.
A bit of welcome news came later that week when the Trump administration gave the NPS permission to fill temporary seasonal positions that had been paused due to the federal hiring freeze. The agency is allowed to fill a total of 7,700 positions — higher than the three-year average of 6,350 — according to a memo obtained by NPR.
"Now that's really good news," said Bill Wade, the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers and a retired superintendent of Shenandoah National Park.
"However, it's not without problems, because at this sort of late date and the hiring timetable, I think there's going to be some difficulty getting some of those positions on board in the parks before the summer season hits."
Between the paperwork, background checks, training regimens and housing searches, experts worry many seasonal positions won't get filled — in general, let alone by summertime. Busy season varies between parks, though generally runs May through September in colder areas and can start as soon as March in warmer parts of the country.
The influx of seasonal workers can more than double the number of park staff in a typical year, Wade said. And their absence will surely be felt by visitors, since they perform such critical functions.
"They're typically the ones that do the fee collection at the entrance stations during that period of time," he added. "They work in the visitor centers and keep them open and staffed and give the ranger-led programs. They are often the custodians that keep the campgrounds clean and the restrooms clean and pick up the trash."
Kristen Brengel, the senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association — a nonprofit that advocates for the NPS — says these workers take care of visitors in subtle but critical ways, from asking hikers how much water they have to gently making sure people keep a safe distance from wildlife.
They also perform more overt acts of heroism, like performing CPR and rescuing overtaxed hikers from trails, an increasing concern after multiple summers of heat-related deaths in national parks. One study found that the risk of heat-related illness at Grand Canyon National Park — and public lands in general — will only increase as climate change worsens.
"This is just such a sad situation," Brengel said. "We hope the dedication that people have to working in the parks comes through and we can see parks staffed well this summer. But with all the chaos going on, it's just concerning."
With layoffs underway and seasonal workers delayed, some parks are already cutting back on services for now — and worrying about what will happen later.
Job cuts impact the visitor experience
The NPS has not publicly confirmed the number or types of jobs lost at specific national parks, nor responded to NPR's requests for comment.
But individuals and organizations affiliated with some parks have spoken out in recent days, beginning to paint a picture of the losses.
Ann Simonelli, a spokesperson for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), told NPR over email that two out of 10 Appalachian Trail full-time staff members were impacted by the layoffs.
She said ATC — a nonprofit that works with the NPS and USDA's Forest Service to oversee the protection and management of the trail, with help from volunteers — is pausing all seasonal hiring "until we see what happens with the federal budget." That includes the crews that have been repairing the nearly 500 miles of the trail damaged by Hurricane Helene, work she said requires approval and oversight from agency partners.
Congress has to pass a funding bill by March 14 to avert a government shutdown.
Farther north, Friends of Acadia — the philanthropic partner of Acadia National Park in Maine — says job cuts and hiring delays have added new layers of uncertainty to the park's summer plans.
Eric Stiles, the organization's president and CEO, told NPR that eight probationary park staffers were laid off: four fee collectors, two who worked on trails, an administrator who coordinated land management and a visual information specialist.
On top of that, he said fears of future rounds of layoffs, as well as the delay in seasonal staff, are cutting into the park's ability to prepare for its busy season since it doesn't know what its workforce will look like.
"I can't tell you what summer visitors at Acadia — what that experience is going to be like," he said. "I can't tell you if the campgrounds are going to be open. I can't tell you if the reservation system for Cadillac [Mountain] is going to be up and running. I can't tell you if trails are going to be closed, because if there's a dead tree overhanging a trail, you need highly skilled, certified folks that might be able to climb and drop a tree with a chainsaw."
Across the country, some fired parks staff members have weighed in on the consequences for park visitors, from loss of wildlife protection to unclean bathrooms to a lack of rangers who can keep hikers safe.
Nate Vince, who said he was Yosemite's only locksmith, wrote in a now-viral Instagram post that he was terminated on Valentine's Day — losing his housing along with his job — with what he said are potentially dangerous repercussions.
"Yosemite National Park [is] the size of Rhode Island and has more locks than a small city, and without a locksmith I'm deeply concerned for the safety and security of the park and people in it," Vince wrote. "This is not right!"
Some parks are already making adjustments
Disruptions are already being felt at some park sites.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado posted on Facebook that as of this week, it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, "due to a lack of staffing."
Saguaro National Park in Arizona says its visitor centers will be closed on Mondays until further notice. Yosemite National Park announced it is delaying reservation bookings at five of its popular campgrounds, affecting reservations in June and July.
Responding to reports of staffing shortages causing wait times twice as long as usual at the Grand Canyon last weekend, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs called it "a slap in the face for Arizonans and all who love to come here." (The Grand Canyon National Park referred comment to the NPS.)
"The Trump administration's removal of essential workers undermines our economy and ability to showcase one of the greatest natural wonders of the world," Hobbs tweeted.
National parks play a vital economic role throughout the country. Some 325 million visitors spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local "gateway regions" in 2023 alone, according to NPS. Those expenditures supported 415,000 jobs and created $55.6 billion in economic output in the national economy, it adds.
When asked about safety and economic concerns, J. Elizabeth Peace, a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, told NPR that the NPS — which it houses — is hiring seasonal workers "to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management."
"We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks," she added. "As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services and deliver excellent customer service."
What park-lovers — and potential visitors — can do
The experts NPR spoke with all encouraged potential visitors not to cancel their park vacation plans just yet, but urged caution and flexibility given all of the uncertainties.
Brengel, with the National Parks Conservation Association, said people should try to take fewer risks as they venture outside.
"If you don't think you can do the hike, don't do it this year," she said. "Stay out of the direct sunlight, bring lots of water, make sure your footwear is good … Just really do your homework before you come in because there may be fewer people to help you once you get there."
Wade, the retired NPS superintendent now with the Association of National Park Rangers, recommends visitors keep checking on their reservations as their trip gets closer since services like guided tours could be suspended.
"They need to check ahead of time and they need to probably be a little bit patient with some of the impacts that they might see, like maybe restrooms not cleaned as as frequently, visitor center hours, trash pick-up, some of those things that they might see now or in the early part of the summer that they wouldn't normally see," he added.
The hope, he said, is that things will run more smoothly as more seasonal positions get filled in the weeks and months ahead. The big question, Wade added, is what happens at the end of the summer when those positions are terminated.
"We don't know what the ultimate outcome of staffing is going to be after the summer season or after those seasonals leave," Wade said. "There are rumors that downsizing is not over yet … And so it's a very unsettling time for people in the parks right now."
Wade said the most helpful thing concerned visitors can do is lobby their elected representatives to reverse the layoffs — which some Virginia lawmakers have already asked the Trump administration to do.
A 2024 Pew Research Center poll showed that the park service had the most favorable rating of any government agency at 76%, with strong support from a majority of both Democrats and Republicans.
"This is not a partisan matter. This is not a political matter," said Stiles, with Friends of Acadia. "This is really about the foundational experience of participating, learning from, recreating in the best America has to offer by way of our natural treasures and cultural treasures."
Stiles believes most Americans value and cherish the national parks system, which was the first in the world when it started in 1872 and has been crowned "America's best idea." And he said that while there is a conversation to be had about how to make it more efficient, that's not what is happening now.
"You don't treat America's best idea with a sledgehammer," he said.
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