With peak visitation season underway, the National Park Service (NPS) is struggling to keep up amid increasing uncertainty and understaffing. The effects are already being felt across the country and will be exacerbated by further personnel actions.
Reports of unstaffed visitor centers, lack of ranger presence on trails, and even scientists cleaning campground toilets represent a fraction of the impacts we can expect to continue and worsen.
The National Parks Conservation Association estimates that NPS has lost 24% of its permanent staff since Trump took office, in addition to experiencing severe shortages in seasonal hires. The Department of the Interior (DOI) has not provided its own personnel statistics, even at the request of Congress members.
To make a dire situation worse, the administration is moving forward with actions that will slash deeper into NPS resources and personnel. The results could be crippling.
Mass Firings Expected
With the Supreme Court greenlighting mass layoffs, at least for now, Reductions in Force (RIFs) are slated to begin at agencies across the federal government. Plans for mass layoffs at NPS––up to 1,500 eliminated positions––were first revealed in April through leaked internal communications. A recent federal court filing offered new details related to requests from 17 agencies, including DOI, to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for approval to lay off employees in “competitive areas.” DOI’s request singled out NPS’s commemoration and community engagement efforts. However, the true scope of planned RIFs is unknown, and hundreds of offices and parks could be subject to reductions.
Prioritization of Political Loyalty Over Expertise and Performance
Changes to civil service schedule
The Trump administration has reignited efforts to reform the civil service schedule by creating new federal employment categories that strip protections from thousands of career civil servants. The proposed classifications include Schedule Policy/Career (“P/C”), and Schedule G, the latter created by Executive Order a few weeks ago. These classifications make it easier to fire and replace employees by making their employment at-will or equivalent to political appointees. Classification changes of this kind are unlawful and signal a return to the 19th century spoils system, as PEER alleged in an ongoing lawsuit filed against the administration.
Changes in civil service schedules put NPS personnel at risk of being terminated for failing to adhere to a political agenda. The health of our national parks relies on NPS personnel’s ability to make decisions based on expertise, not political loyalty. Additionally, by creating a revolving door for hiring, the classifications undermine the value of maintaining a workforce with deep-seated knowledge and experience in particular roles and locations.
Loyalty Questions
Blatant disregard for established civil service procedures is also evidenced by the addition of loyalty questions to federal job listings. Recent applicants for seasonal positions at Everglades National Park, for example, received essay questions related to government efficiency and advancement of the President’s policy priorities. Though optional, applicants were encouraged to “thoughtfully address each question.” The inclusion of such questions on federal job listings not only politicizes roles across the executive branch, including basic positions like seasonal hires, but also promotes a culture of intimidation from the onset of hiring.
Retention and Hiring Challenges Ahead
Supposedly meant to strengthen the federal workforce, new OPM policies create job uncertainty and fear that will discourage talent from applying to agency positions and may contribute to additional voluntary departures.
Rolling Back of Probationary Employee Protections
In January, nearly 1,000 NPS probationary employees were subjected to an ongoing tug of war of firing, rehiring, and possible re-firing. Current and future probationary employees can expect more hurdles.
A new OPM rule, finalized without notice or a public comment period, rescinds protections for probationary employees and makes it easier for agencies to fire them. The rule establishes broader categories for deciding whether to keep an employee including whether they advance organizational goals and “efficiency of service.”
The administration faced legal challenges and backlash when thousands of employees were blanketly fired for “performance” reasons. Under the new rule, agencies are no longer required to disclose a reason for termination and terminations can be effective immediately, creating a glaring transparency issue.
Lastly, probationary employees will no longer be routinely incorporated into the permanent workforce at the end of their probationary period. Instead, a certified endorsement by the employing agency is required to avoid automatic termination.
Limiting High Ratings on Performance Reviews
In addition to rulemaking on probationary employees, OPM rolled out a memorandum strongly encouraging agencies to ensure that a “disproportionate number” of employees don’t receive the highest ratings on their annual performance review. The OPM recommendation puts pressure on supervisors to issue positive performance reviews sparingly, putting employees’ jobs at risk even if they fulfill and exceed the requirements of their work plan.
The Future of NPS
We can expect these adverse personnel actions and strains on NPS resources, like proposed cuts to the annual budget, to result in an agency stretched so thin that it can no longer function as intended.
The risk goes beyond NPS employees losing their jobs. Gutting NPS threatens the survival of our treasured national parks, hurts the economy, and needlessly puts American lives at risk. Our national parks, stewarded by NPS, have long been a thread in the fabric of American culture. Today, we are witnessing the unraveling and must act to preserve a legacy that belongs to all Americans—past, present, and future.
Read our Call to Congress to Defend America’s National Parks.
Kaylee Rodriguez is PEER’s litigation assistant. Previously, she served as a legal assistant at the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
