CODY, Wyoming (Reuters) -At Yosemite National Park in California, one of the oldest and most popular U.S. natural preserves, the workforce is stretched so thin this season that nearly all staffers, even scientists, are required to take turns cleaning campground toilets, according to two people familiar with conditions there.
The staff hydrologist and an invasive species expert have also been posted at entry gates to process visitors, a job normally handled by lower-paid seasonal workers and junior staff, one of the sources said.
It’s a reflection of a severe worker shortage in national parks across the country, which have been under budget and understaffed for years, that has been made worse by cuts to the federal workforce by President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.
The NPS said in an email to Reuters that park staff may be asked to take on extra roles to keep parks safe and open.
“At times, team members may step into a range of responsibilities outside their usual scope to help ensure continued access, safety, and stewardship across the park system,” the NPS said.
It encouraged park visitors to take responsibility for planning ahead, including checking park alerts and understanding site guidelines.
In Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, 500 miles (800 km) to the north, workers are so overextended that the loss of just one plow truck driver in the high-elevation park would make it impossible to clear ice and snow from roads before travelers return en masse in the coming weeks, said Kevin Heatley, who quit as park superintendent in May in frustration over staff shortages.
Conservation advocates point to such extremes as signs that the National Park Service, already strained from growing numbers of visitors and years of lean funding, may be facing a busy but uncertain summer season.
The NPS has lost 13% of its 20,000-strong workforce since Trump took office in January, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a watchdog-advocacy group, which attributes much of the drop to job eliminations and staff taking buyouts offered by DOGE.
The Trump administration has not provided its own figures.
The risk of a public backlash against Trump if conditions at the national parks prove unpleasant for visitors this summer is significant. While Americans are increasingly divided on a range of key issues, the vast majority cherish the parks as national treasures and beloved, affordable vacation getaways.
And they are visiting them in record numbers. Last year, national parks welcomed more than 331 million visitors, a new high, up 6 million from 2023.
Anna Kelly, Trump’s deputy White House press secretary, told Reuters the parks will be in pristine condition for visitors. “President Trump is ensuring agencies across the country run more efficiently while preserving great services for the American people,” Kelly said.
‘A REALLY TOUGH SUMMER’
Difficulties some parks have experienced hiring and retaining sufficient numbers of park rangers and search-and-rescue personnel pose a potential risk to visitor safety, said Kristen Brengel, a senior executive for the NPCA.
Fewer emergency rescue personnel mean it could take longer to reach stranded hikers suffering from heat exhaustion or injuries. A smaller park ranger force, Brengel said, means more visitors may venture too close to wild bison, scalding geysers and steep ledges, or into the rugged backcountry without sufficient water or gear.
“This is going to be a really tough summer for most parks,” Brengel said.
The NPS did not respond to a Reuters query about the NPCA’s concerns about potential safety issues.
Yellowstone’s superintendent, Cam Sholly, insists staffing at the geothermal wonderland, the nation’s oldest national park and one of the most visited, “is higher this year than it has been at any point in the last five years going into the summer.”
“Our critical positions are filled,” he said last month at an annual season-opening luncheon in Cody, Wyoming, a gateway city at the park’s eastern edge.
PARK LEADER QUITS
For some park leaders the going got tough even before summer arrived. Heatley quit his job just five months after becoming Crater Lake superintendent.
He told Reuters the park has been understaffed for years, but recent cuts by the Trump administration, and demands by DOGE, such as telling federal workers to send a weekly email justifying their jobs, have caused low morale and long hours.
He said he resigned because he felt he could no longer protect the health and safety of his staff, or that of visitors.
The park – famous for the cobalt colors of its lake, the deepest in the United States – gets so much snow and ice in winter – over 36 feet (11 meters) of snow this year alone – that clearing roads ahead of tourist season is vital.
“Crater Lake is at a point where we can’t afford to lose a single staff member,” he said.
The park currently has 45 permanent employees but has 18 vacant positions, which remain unfilled because of Trump’s hiring freeze.
“Crater Lake is on a precipice. It’s like a starving man and you are taking away another half of his rations.”
LOW STAFFING BEFORE TRUMP
Others are more upbeat. Jonathan Farrington, CEO of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, said he had been told only 13 NPS positions had been cut at Yosemite, and none involved law enforcement or public-facing positions.
“The visitor experience in Yosemite will be excellent this year,” he said.
The National Park Service, overseen by the U.S. Interior Department, manages 85 million acres set aside for conservation and recreation inside the nation’s scenic natural wonders and historic landmarks.
Congress created Yosemite National Park in 1872 and the park system continued to grow, with President Woodrow Wilson signing the act creating the National Park Service in 1916.
Today its portfolio consists of 433 individual park units, ranging from smaller sites like Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Ford’s Theatre in Washington to 63 full-scale national parks, among them Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains.
Even before Trump’s second term began, park staffing had declined by 20% since 2010 even as admissions rose 16% in the same period, the NPCA said, putting more pressure on infrastructure.
In February, the Trump administration ordered firing 1,000 recently hired workers at the NPS. While that decision was later reversed, it means parks are now racing to rehire them even though the summer season has already begun.
Perhaps mindful of potential political fallout, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April issued a order requiring all national parks to “remain open and accessible” and to provide “the best customer service experience for all visitors.”
But despite a public pledge by Burgum to hire 7,700 park rangers on a seasonal basis this summer, the NPCA has information showing only 3,300 had been hired as of May 13, Brengel said.
Former Yellowstone superintendent Dan Wenk told Reuters park managers would likely make do by sacrificing long-term research or wildlife and habitat management projects in order to keep roads open, nature tours going and park grounds free of litter.
“If the expectations are that the parks are going to provide the same level of service this year as they did last year, that can’t be met, most likely,” Wenk said.
(Reporting by Ruffin Prevost in Cody, Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Tim Reid in Washington, editing by Ross Colvin and Aurora Ellis)
By Steve Gorman and Tim Reid
