What Trump's Hiring Freeze means to our Stressed National Parks [View all]

By Joel Connelly
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The nationwide recognition of Olympic National Park was manifested a couple of summers ago in Port Angeles by the lineup of folks waiting to receive backcountry camping permits. A friend of mine, Grays Harbor born and raised, issued permits and bear-resistant food containers. With a deep knowledge of the park, he briefed out-of-state visitors on its attractions.

Not this summer. Due to the Trump Administration’s federal hiring freeze, more than 2,000 seasonal staff have received notice that their hiring has been revoked. An additional 1,000-plus probationary workers have seen their hopes for permanent employment put in limbo.

The National Park Service has long been understaffed. Staff is down 20 percent from 2010 while visitation is up by an equal amount. The park system recorded 325 million visits in 2024. So popular is Mt. Rainier that the National Park Service has instituted a reservation system for car traffic in addition to back country camping.

The Park Service relies on seasonals — 175 at Mt. Rainier — to handle summer and fall visitor loads. “The NPS hires roughly 8,000 seasonal employees for 3-6 months: [They] provide much of the basic visitor services from fee collection to interpretation to search and rescue,” explained Obama-era National Park Service director Jon Jon Jarvis.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/02/13/what-trumps-hiring-freeze-means-to-vulnerable-national-parks/