Arizona national parks & forests already feeling strain from federal worker firings

Arizona national parks and forests are already feeling a strain on
resources after President Donald Trump’s executive order for a federal
hiring freeze and extensive firings.

Grand Canyon National Park, one of the state’s 22 national park sites,
reported wait times being twice as long as usual just a week after the
National Park Service and National Forest Service fired thousands. The
park lost four toll operators, according to The Washington Post, despite being the second most visited park in the country. The park service fired an estimated 1,000 employees.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has
tried to slash numerous areas of federal funding – including for
national parks and forests. A federal hiring freeze went into effect Jan. 20, but the park service has since been cleared to fill thousands of seasonal positions.

While national parks are part of the Department of the Interior,
national forests are part of the Department of Agriculture, which
defended Trump’s decision to cut positions.

“As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to
release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the
Forest Service. To be clear, none of these individuals were operational
firefighters,” a USDA spokesperson wrote. “It’s unfortunate that the
Biden administration hired thousands of people with no plan in place to
pay them long term.”

Though USDA officials say 2,000 employees were let go, a union says the number is closer to 3,400 workers.

Others have been less enthusiastic about the decision to release so many positions. Matthew Nelson, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association, said the decision is most likely to affect residents of the Valley who travel around the state to access natural lands.

“Most of the public lands that we love and enjoy – so these are
national forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, national parks –
they’re all managed by federal agencies, and right now, those systems
are being completely dismantled,” Nelson said.

In 2023, outdoor recreation added over $14 billion to the Arizona GDP, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

“Beyond just the economic value of outdoor recreation, what it
provides in terms of healthy living, I think it really, for me, defines
what it means to be an Arizonan,” Nelson said. “That’s why I live here,
and why I’ve pursued the job and the lifestyle that I have. If that were
to ever change, it would completely transform how I see Arizona and
America.”

Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, said though the “Valentine’s Day massacre” of firings wasn’t a complete surprise, the extent wasn’t anticipated.

“That’s kind of using the broad sword rather than the scalpel,” Wade said.

Wade said those affected received an email at 4 p.m. Feb. 14 and were
given an hour and a half to return any government equipment. The
National Park Service maintains it will continue hiring seasonal staff
for better visitor experience.

“The National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue
enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for
optimization and innovation in workforce management,” a spokesperson
wrote. “We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to
explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national
parks.”

In a social media post
about the Grand Canyon, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said the “Trump
administration’s removal of essential workers undermines our economy and
ability to showcase one of the greatest natural wonders of the world.”
On Friday, Hobbs said despite the challenges at the Grand Canyon, she
would not use state resources to aid the park, according to the Arizona Capitol Times.

Volunteers and employees of the park service around the state have
said Arizonans and tourists will likely feel the fallout of fewer
resources.

“When this workforce continues to be diminished, it’ll also affect
our ability” to maintain trails, Nelson said. “We also need our partners
at the Forest Service and the BLM and the National Park Service to be
engaged in that process. Otherwise, everything falls apart.”

Cronkite News reporter Emily Fox-Million contributed to this article.