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Six weeks after mass layoffs slashed the size of the workforce in America’s National Park Service (NPS), Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has issued an order requiring parks to “remain open and accessible to the American public during the specified hours of operation.”
Roughly 1,000 NPS workers were laid off in February. Some of those workers have since been offered their jobs back, although not all accepted. The NPS was also granted an exemption to a government-wide hiring freeze, enabling the agency to hire more seasonal workers. Despite this, staffing shortages have led some parks to reduce operating hours and close some campgrounds and trails.
The new order, issued last Thursday, now requires parks to seek approval from the NPS Director and the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks before reducing hours or services.
National parks advocates have criticized the move, saying it’s reckless to force parks to remain open without enough staff to ensure visitor safety or responsible resource management. “This ill-conceived policy flies in the face of responsible management of national parks, risking both visitor safety and the very resources the Park Service was created and is mandated to protect,” said Kristen Brengel of the National Parks Conservation Association in a statement. Brengel called the order reckless, out of touch, and “micromanagement at its worst.”
In contrast, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) praised the move in a separate statement. “As we head into the summer months, millions of Americans and visitors from around the world will be enjoying our beautiful national parks. Secretary Burgum is making sure the National Park Service is carrying out its mission to welcome visitors and provide them with the best possible experience.”
Burgum’s order states that the Department of the Interior, of which the NPS is a part, “shall take action to ensure that NPS is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit,” although it is not clear what this means or how it would be accomplished.
One day after the order was issued, the National Park Service offered many employees a buyout — in which workers would voluntarily resign but remain on the payroll until September — for the second time this year.
Featured image: An NPS ranger leads a hike in Glacier National Park in 2019. GlacierNPS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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