Yosemite Staff Stretched Thin as Worker Shortage Hits U.S. National Parks
At California’s Yosemite National Park—one of the oldest and most frequented natural reserves in the U.S.—a severe staffing shortage has forced nearly all employees, including scientists, to rotate through cleaning campground toilets, according to sources familiar with the situation. A hydrologist and invasive species specialist are also covering entry gates, roles typically assigned to lower-paid seasonal workers, highlighting a broader staffing crisis across U.S. national parks.
The National Park Service (NPS) acknowledged that staff are often required to take on multiple responsibilities to keep parks operational and safe. The agency encouraged visitors to plan ahead, check alerts, and follow guidelines.
In Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park, former superintendent Kevin Heatley, who resigned in May, warned that the loss of even one snowplow operator could jeopardize efforts to clear roads before the summer tourist influx. He cited long-term understaffing made worse by workforce cuts during President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, which encouraged federal workers to justify their jobs weekly.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) noted a 13% drop in the NPS workforce since Trump first took office, due to job eliminations and staff buyouts. While visitor numbers hit a record 331 million in 2024, safety concerns are rising due to inadequate staffing of rangers and emergency responders, said NPCA’s Kristen Brengel.
The Trump administration denies service quality will suffer. Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said parks would be “in pristine condition,” asserting that government agencies are being made more efficient without sacrificing services.
Still, morale is low in some parks. Heatley said he stepped down from Crater Lake due to an inability to ensure staff and visitor safety. Despite receiving over 36 feet of snow this year, the park has 18 unfilled positions due to Trump’s hiring freeze.
Jonathan Farrington of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, however, played down the crisis, saying only 13 positions were cut at Yosemite and that visitor experience will remain high.
The NPS, under the Interior Department, oversees 85 million acres across 433 sites, including 63 national parks like Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon. Although the system has grown, staffing has declined 20% since 2010, even as attendance rose 16%, increasing pressure on infrastructure.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration ordered the termination of 1,000 newly hired NPS employees, though the decision was later reversed. As of mid-May, only 3,300 of a planned 7,700 seasonal rangers had been hired, according to NPCA data.
To avoid political backlash, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered all parks to remain accessible and provide top-tier service. But former Yellowstone superintendent Dan Wenk warned that budget-strapped parks would likely scale back research and conservation projects just to maintain basic services.
“If visitors expect the same service as last year, they’ll likely be disappointed,” Wenk said.
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