As Busy Season Approaches, Yosemite Reflects the Impact of Trump-era Budget Cuts
The park has postponed campground reservations, while several national parks are experiencing staff shortages due to federal budget cuts.
A postponement of campground reservations indicates that Yosemite National Park may be impacted by funding reductions from the Trump administration, just as the peak season approaches.
The affected campgrounds include Upper Pines, Lower Pines, North Pines, Wawona, and Hodgdon Meadow.
“We recognize the inconvenience this poses to visitors planning camping trips and we appreciate their understanding,” the park stated. “Our aim is to release campground nights as quickly as possible.”
In an email to The Epoch Times, the park indicated that it would notify the public at least seven days in advance on its website and social media when campground nights become available.
Requests for clarification regarding the reservations delay from park staff and the National Parks Service were unanswered.
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Thousands of employees from various government agencies were terminated last week after the buyout acceptance period had ended.
Neal Desai, the National Parks Conservation Association’s regional director for California, indicated that it’s logical to link the job cuts to the significant reservations delay at Yosemite National Park.
“It’s hard to see how they are not connected,” Desai stated to The Epoch Times.
He pointed out that the directive preventing parks from hiring or maintaining staff just before the peak season poses “a significant challenge.”
“These parks belong to all Americans,” he remarked. “This is a challenge to the concept of America First.”
According to the association, at least one park lost 20% of its permanent employees, while another park lost three-quarters of its interpretive staff. The association did not disclose the names of the parks.
“At one park, we are aware that they lost several fee staff as they prepare for the busy season,” John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations at the association, informed The Epoch Times via email on Monday.
In one park, the administrative staff were significantly diminished, making it extremely challenging, if not impossible, to hire, process, and train seasonal workers as the busy season approaches, according to the association.
Roles were eliminated in areas such as maintenance, administration, cultural resources, and fee collection.
Bison gather in front of a lodging at Yellowstone National Park. Many national parks staffers lost their jobs last week, just before the busy season. Courtesy of the National Park Service
According to the association, park staff are responsible for search and rescue missions, trail clearing, restroom cleaning, and ensuring that parks are prepared for visitors.
The association also claims that many park staff are feeling anxious about their job security since President Donald Trump’s administration began.
The National Park Service heavily relies on seasonal employees, with more than 6,000 hired each year to operate visitor centers and entrance booths, maintain facilities, repair buildings, protect historical and national resources, and conduct research.
The organization reported that the hiring freeze implemented by the administration has disrupted this essential process.
This hiring freeze has affected over 2,000 seasonal and permanent roles nationwide as parks gear up for spring break and summer visitors, according to the association.
Furthermore, the park service has over 1,000 employees categorized as being in a probationary status, as the association reported. The Trump administration encouraged the park service to evaluate these employees and consider shifting them to temporary assignments, placing them on paid leave, or assessing whether they should be retained.
Townsend shared on Facebook that she had lost her position as a carnivore specialist for Yosemite National Park. She highlighted her research projects related to federally endangered carnivore species.
“I am heartbroken for myself but also for the remarkable team of biologists I supervised, the incredible initiatives we passionately developed, and the vital resources that will be adversely affected nationwide because of this,” she wrote in her post.
She emphasized that her role was funded through grants from local nonprofits: “Not a single dollar of taxpayer resources is being conserved by my dismissal.”
Beth Pratt, a regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation residing near Yosemite, expressed her feelings regarding Townsend’s post.
