Our national parks are places of awe and wonder. Whether it’s a childhood family road trip to Yellowstone, a romantic hike to a waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park or an epic climb at Yosemite, national park visits are special memories to countless Americans.
With more than 330 million visits to 85 million acres across 433 parks (including monuments, battlefields and other public lands), the National Parks Service needs a lot of staff to keep visitors safe, provide the public education that is central to their mission and to use rigorous scientific methods to keep the forests, meadows, deserts, rivers and streams of our national parks healthy and intact habitats for all of the wildlife that live in our parks.
Who are the National Parks Service staff?
If you’ve been to a national park, you’ve likely encountered a park ranger. Maybe they received your payment and gave you a map? Maybe they stopped by your campsite to tell you about recent wildlife sightings. Or they had a table set up in the visitor’s center where visitors could learn more about the wildlife in the park and kids could get their junior ranger badges. Those are the most visible park staff – making sure that visitors know where to go, what we’re looking at and how to be safe visiting the park.
National parks also employ wildland firefighters, park police and lifeguards to keep visitors safe as well as maintenance workers and custodians to keep the park infrastructure operational and clean.
In addition to staff who are focused on keeping the parks running well for visitors, there are other staff who you might not see when you visit the parks. Wildlife biologists, botanists and ecologists are collecting and analyzing data about trees, insects, and animals so that the National Parks Service can make science-based management decisions that fulfill its mission to preserve the parks for us and for future generations.
What’s happening to National Parks staff?
Despite 2024’s all-time high when it comes to national parks visits, the parks have fewer staff this summer than they have in 20 years. According to the National Parks Conservation Associate, more than 24% of permanent staff have left – via involuntary firings and layoffs or retirements – including senior level managers. And while there are hundreds of thousands of volunteers, they need fulltime staff to train and direct their volunteer efforts.
If the National Parks Service is not staffed up, either through reinstating fired or laid off staff or hiring thousands of new staff, our parks will suffer. Without educators, our children will learn less about the nature that they were brought to park to experience. Without staff to ensure safety on trails and in wildlife encounters, our parks will be more dangerous for visitors. And without the scientists, we will have less information and less ability to act to protect the wildlife and their habitats.
What can you do to help national parks staff?
Contact your Member of Congress
Representative Joe Neguse (CO) and Senator Mark Kelly (AZ) have introduced the Protect our Parks Act of 2025 which, if passed, would direct “the Secretary of Interior to ensure adequate staffing within the National Park System.” The bill also orders the reinstatement of any individuals terminated on or after January 20, 2025. Ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor this bill.
Volunteer
Check out the volunteer opportunities on the National Parks Service website
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Ellen runs campaigns to protect America’s beautiful places, from local beachfronts to remote mountain peaks. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Arctic Defense Campaign and co-coordinates the Climate Forests Campaign. Ellen previously worked as the organizing director for Environment America’s Climate Defenders campaign and managed grassroots campaign offices across the country. Ellen lives in Denver, where she likes to hike in Colorado’s mountains.
