A group of about 100 stood outside Zion National Park last weekend protesting the Trump administration’s firing of an estimated 1,000 National Park Service workers.
February is one of the slowest months in the year at the park, but the line of cars stretched far beyond what is typical. The gateway town of Springdale’s mayor, Barbara Bruno, reported that one reason for this was the firing of a dozen Zion NP rangers, including some who staffed the entry gate.
“I truly believe that all Americans love the parks, and so we’re here today fighting for them, fighting for their future,” Jaechon Anderson, a local yoga studio owner who helped organize the protest, told KUER 90.1. “Mother Nature doesn’t have her own voice, so she needs us right now.”
The population of Springdale is less than 600, and locals are concerned that the reduced staffing will cause even more traffic and congestion problems for their small town.
Zion NP is one of the most visited parks and reported 4.9 million visitors in 2024. Visitors to the Mighty 5 Utah national parks spent $3 billion and supported 26,507 jobs.
Mayor Bruno told KUER 90.1 that she isn’t worried that people will stop coming to Zion, but she is worried that the staffing cuts will change the visitor experience. Fewer rangers could mean the potential for longer lines and fewer activities.
Since the firings on February 14, the Department of the Interior has announced that it is reinstating 50 of the terminated park positions to help maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and collect admission fees.
The park service also said in a memo that it will hire up to 7,700 seasonal positions this year, up from about 5,000 promised last week.
While the plan to hire more seasonal workers is welcome, “it will take a while to get to the number of seasonals hired to avoid some of the impacts we’ve talked about,” Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers and a former superintendent of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, told AP News.
National park protests across the country
Similar protests have occurred at national parks throughout the nation.
At Yosemite National Park, park staffers hung an upside-down American flag next to Horsetail Falls during the peak evening of the Yosemite Firefall. The inverted flag has historically been used as a distress signal. Protests organizers said the move was meant to draw attention to the mass firings at the NPS.
Hundreds of protesters have also gathered at the entrances to Rocky Mountain National Park, Sequoia & Kings National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.
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