Fired National Park Service Staff Will Be Reinstated, but Long-Term Threats Loom

The move, following weeks of backlash and protest, affects around 1,000 employees.

On Feb. 14, the Trump administration fired around 1,000 employees from the National Park Service, part of a widespread federal workforce purge that many have referred to as the “Valentine’s Day Massacre.” 

Last week, two U.S. District Court judges ruled that fired probationary workers be reinstated at several agencies, including those at the NPS. Despite the mandate, many of those affected by the layoffs waited for days to hear the fate of their roles. Some received word that they would return, but immediately be put on administrative leave. 

Then, late this week, news came in that the National Park Service would be authorized to fully reinstate 1,000 previously terminated probationary employees at national parks, according to the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association. Reinstated employees and environmental advocates are cautiously optimistic about the win. But many are concerned that threats loom on the horizon for the backbone of the U.S. parks system—and the public lands they help protect. 

“This court-ordered reinstatement is a welcome relief and getting these employees back to work as quickly as possible is critical,” Theresa Pierno, president and CEO for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement. “This chaotic whiplash is no way to manage the Park Service, especially as they are welcoming millions of visitors right now. This administration needs to stop playing games with the future of our national parks.” 

Widespread Confusion: In February, I wrote about the potential trickle down impacts of mass layoffs at the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service, which collectively oversee 278 million acres of land in the U.S. The ax primarily affected probationary employees—those who were recently hired or promoted. 

Nationwide backlash has erupted since then. A group called the Resistance Rangers—made up of more than 800 off-duty rangers, including some of those who were laid off—helped organize protests at more than 140 national park sites in early March. My colleague Wyatt Myskow recently covered a protest at Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona in response to the layoffs and the Trump administration’s attempts to downsize and eliminate national monuments. 

Last week, two federal judges in California and Maryland ruled that the Office of Personnel Management had unlawfully directed federal agencies to carry out layoffs at several agencies, including the Department of the Interior, which oversees the NPS. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco took particular issue with the lack of due process during the layoffs, with the agency citing false claims of “poor performance” as a reason for termination, despite employees stressing their positive annual reviews. 

“It is a sad, sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said during his ruling last week. “That should not have been done in our country. It was a sham in order to avoid statutory requirements.”

Employees and national park supporters celebrated the court ruling as a victory for the country’s so-called “Crown Jewels.” But cheers died down as days passed and many former employees had yet to hear what their status would be. Some workers did receive word from their former bosses that they would be brought back—only to then be placed on administrative leave until further notice, unable to actually work, The New York Times reported. 

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of current and former National Park Service workers published an open letter calling for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “meaningfully reinstate fired employees.” 

“We are rangers and stewards, the backbone of public land. We swear in Junior Rangers; we study Joshua trees and mountain goats; we wade through thigh-high mud to measure plants. We manage contracts; we help our resources adapt to climate change; we clean toilets and clear trails; we preserve and tell America’s stories,” the letter read. “We know firsthand that it takes a dedicated staff of public servants to protect public lands. To ensure the future of these cherished places, you need to physically reinstate all unlawfully-fired DOI employees.” 

Now, they seem to have gotten their wish, but the Interior Department’s rollout of reinstatements has been confusing for many. Kenan Chan, who worked as a biological science technician and lead diver at Channel Islands National Park in California, said in an Instagram post that he had received a call on Wednesday from an employee at the park that he would be brought back and “be placed on administrative leave until further notice.” Then, the next day, he was told that “ALL terminated probationary employees” would be brought back to work. 

The Trump administration appealed both of the judges’ decisions. In the meantime, I reached out to the Department of the Interior’s press team to confirm whether all 1,000 NPS employees who were laid off on Feb. 14 will be reinstated. In an emailed statement to ICN, J. Elizabeth Peace, a senior public affairs specialist at the agency, said: “In compliance with court orders, the Department of the Interior is reinstating these employees.” 

“Individual notifications are underway, and while the process takes time, affected employees can expect to receive notification soon, if they have not already,” she said. “All impacted employees will receive back pay, and the Department will ensure continued compensation as the White House pursues its appeals process.”

A Summer Stress Test: The reinstatement of fired employees marks a tentative triumph for public lands advocates, but experts say the long-term future for the National Park Service under President Donald Trump remains murky. 

At the start of Trump’s term, the administration announced a hiring freeze at the Parks Service, and more than 700 employees there accepted a “deferred resignation” offer. Thousands of job offers for seasonal workers at national parks across the U.S. were rescinded, The Associated Press reports. 

In an about-face, the Department of the Interior sent a memo in late February pledging to hire 7,700 seasonal employees. But the administrative processing related to finding and onboarding new seasonal employees and reinstating previously fired permanent employees could make operations difficult at national parks during the upcoming busy season, according to Jonathan Jarvis, who was the 18th director of the National Park Service, serving from 2009 to 2017. 

“You have this sort of double whammy. Right now, in a typical year, is when the Park Service would be gearing up for its summer season,” he told me. “This is when [NPS does] the seasonal hiring. This is when you do your park planning. This is when you do your acquisitions. They also reduced everybody’s credit cards down to $1. So they have all these sort of layered effects on the parks’ ability to operate.”

These roadblocks coincide with record high park visitorship. A recent federal report revealed that national parks saw nearly 332 million visits last year—the most since officials began record-keeping in 1904. Maintaining park facilities, trails and resources in the face of these massive crowds takes an efficient workforce of rangers, maintenance staff, administrators and more. 

Jarvis is skeptical that the National Park Service is “going to actually pull it off” with hirings and reinstatements this summer—partially because some of the laid off employees were in the human resources department and would have helped handle the hiring and training of seasonal employees.

Earlier in March, The Hill reported that the Trump administration is considering a 30 percent payroll reduction at the National Park Service. 

Jarvis worked in the NPS for around 40 years, starting in an entry-level position and climbing all the way up to head of the entire agency. He worked under six administrations, Republican and Democrat. He said the current political attacks on the NPS are “unprecedented.” 

Laid off employees who may soon be reinstated also recognize that their roles could be transient. But Chan, who is still waiting on the official documents confirming his reinstatement, has pledged to stick around if he gets onboarded, despite the uncertainty that remains, according to his Instagram post. 

“There is also still the looming threat of a widespread reduction in force (RIF) within public land agencies,” Chan said in the post. “We are tired, we are weary, but we are back and ready to get back to doing our job for you and for our public lands.” 

Cover photo:  Earlier in March, people protested against federal employee layoffs at Yosemite National Park. Credit: by LAURE ANDRILLON/AFP via Getty Images