U.S. National Park workers reckon with fear, anger after layoffs

by Victoria LAVELLE

Erikka Olson spent five years building her resume with a seasonal job at California's Yosemite National Park before she finally landed a permanent position with the US Forest Service in Nevada.

This past weekend, the Trump administration laid her off, along with thousands of other federal employees.

The cuts were part of the work of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, as part of a declared effort to reduce public spending by dismantling the federal bureaucracy.

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) estimates 1,000 US National Park Service employees who were on one-year probationary periods were laid off. About 3,400 employees of the US Forest Service were among the cuts too, according to multiple U.S. media reports.

Olson, 27, had worked at Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest since last June, performing tasks such as maintaining hiking trails, clearing vegetation and other debris from paths and collecting data on visitors.

On Saturday, she received an email saying she was fired with immediate effect, alleging poor performance.

"Our work as federal employees is such a good deal for the American public," Olson told AFP.

She argued that her modest salary was worth it to support work the public can take for granted at times, such as clean bathrooms and accessible hiking trails.

"Having wilderness areas that are protected is like, such a good deal for the American people, and I think they'll be losing that," she lamented.

- 'Fueled by anger' -

The United States' 63 National Parks are highly popular public attractions, especially in the spring and summertime -- and in an age of strong political division, protecting public lands remains one of the few federal issues that has widespread consensus.

One former employee of a National Park in the Washington area, who asked not to be named, said "the National Parks are America's best idea."

"It's not saving money," the employee told AFP about the layoffs, of which she was a part.

"It's only going to hurt services. You know, visitors to the parks are going to be shocked and saddened with what they're going to come across this summer... less services, dirty bathrooms, no programs, and shortened hours."

Now in her 50s, the employee said she spent her last days returning work equipment and bringing home personal belongings.

"I am being fueled by anger, because it's so stupid and because it's not benefiting anybody, you know... there's not going to be anybody there to protect the public lands, or instruct people, or save them when they throw themselves in front of a bison in Yellowstone," the employee said.

- Privatization? -

Emily Douce, the NPCA's deputy vice president of government affairs, listed trash piling up, overflowing restrooms, and damage to the natural environment as "some examples that could happen if the park service doesn't have the staff necessary to run these parks."

Aleksander Chmura, a former janitor at Yosemite National Park, said he feared the parks face "destruction and potentially privatization" in the wake of the layoffs.

"They'll make up these excuses saying, 'look, the parks can't run themselves. We need to privatize them,'" he said.

"I really, really think that what we're going to head towards is a privatization of our parks. And we cannot let that happen by any means whatsoever."

Nathan Vince, another laid-off Yosemite employee, was the park's sole locksmith before he was fired last Friday.

"They've gutted essential people, and they haven't even looked at what I do or who I am or the need of my position," Vince, 42, told AFP.

"There's absolutely nothing efficient about this, or that makes any sense, unless the goal is to get rid of all the locks in a park," he added.

© Agence France-Presse