“There’s no real staffing plan. It’s chaotic, and there’s no leadership from the secretary of the Interior,’’ said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Burgum “needs to step up and make sure these parks are operating at full capacity this spring and summer,’’ Whitehouse said. Problems are likely at parks that are popular in the spring, such as Zion National Park in Utah, park advocates said.
“National parks are something that all Americans cherish, and the people making the decisions are disconnected from that reality,” Whitehouse said, referring to billionaire Elon Musk and a team of aides who have overseen an effort to fire thousands of federal workers.