National Park Service in Turmoil After 1,000 Staff Abruptly Cut

One thousand National Park Service staff in their probationary period were abruptly dismissed last week as the Trump administration moves forward with what officials say are cost-cutting measures across the federal government. A National Parks Conservation Association release called for an immediate halt to the staffing cuts, citing their devastating impact on park visitors’ experience and the obvious impacts they will have on the affected staff. The sweeping cuts and a hiring freeze are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to slash the federal workforce working in the sciences and conservation. The Department of the Interior is exempting 5,000 seasonal jobs from the hiring freeze, while terminating 1,000 permanent National Park Service staff roles. According to an NPCA spokesperson: “In at least some cases, they [NPS staff] received emails, not from their managers, saying it was for poor performance, despite track records to the contrary.” In the wake of the abrupt ... Read full article.