As their ranks diminish, park rangers say fewer employees could mean long entry lines, dirty bathrooms and potentially unsafe conditions for hikers and campers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only locksmith at Yosemite National Park in California, the sole EMT ranger at neighboring Devils Postpile National Monument, an experienced sled dog musher in Alaska\u2019s Denali National Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are just a few of the several thousand national parks and forests employees abruptly terminated last week by the Trump administration, in what some are calling the \u201cValentine\u2019s Day massacre.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 2,000 recently hired employees were fired at the U.S. Forest Service and an additional 1,000 jobs were slashed at the National Park Service. The terminations, which were part of a broader push to cut federal bureaucracy and spending, have left federal workers bewildered and worried about the future of public lands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese folks aren\u2019t the swamp. They aren\u2019t bureaucrats,\u201d said Steve Gutierrez, with the National Federation of Federal Workers. \u201cThey feel like the the government doesn\u2019t have their backs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NBC News spoke with 18 current and former employees from national parks and forests across the country. They described working on public lands as a dream job and joked that their low pay was offset by beautiful sunsets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As their ranks diminish, park rangers say fewer employees could mean long entry lines, dirty bathrooms and potentially unsafe conditions for hikers and campers during the busy tourist season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe lands are all still there, but there won\u2019t be anybody to manage them. I\u2019m afraid people will lose access if there\u2019s no staff to maintain and operate the campgrounds, service the cabins, clean the bathroom,\u201d said former forestry technician Kevin Farrell. \u201cThe public isn\u2019t going to get served.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last summer, Farrell spent much of his time at the Willamette National Forest in Oregon cleaning fire pits and toilets, picking up litter, posting maps and informational signs at kiosks and patrolling trails near wildfires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His 25 years of experience working on state and federal land was cut short last week when he received a termination email, the same one sent to thousands of other federal workers. It said his time as a probationary employee at Willamette \u2014 he’d been in that position for less than a year \u2014 did not meet agency standards despite having received \u201cexceeded and far exceeded expectations\u201d reviews from supervisors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All three people on his crew were terminated last week, Farrell said. Others within his district, including people who worked at the front desk and doing backcountry patrols were also let go. In total, 12 out of 18 people in his district were fired last week, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery last person there was committed, dedicated public servants who enjoy doing their jobs and came to work with the right attitude,\u201d he said. \u201cOur supervisor called us \u2018the dream team.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In an emailed statement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, said many of the terminated positions were funded by the Inflation Reduction Act under President Joe Biden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have a solemn responsibility to be good stewards of the American people\u2019s hard-earned taxpayer dollars and to ensure that every dollar spent goes to serve the people, not the bureaucracy,\u201d the statement read in part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that the Trump administration will \u201cprotect America\u2019s abundant natural resources while streamlining federal agencies to better serve the American people.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Park Service did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Devils Postpile National Monument, in eastern California, Alex Wild said he was often the first to arrive when a hiker or camper was experiencing a health emergency. Until last week, he was the park\u2019s only certified EMT ranger on staff who could perform CPR. He now worries that people will have to wait hours for local first responders to arrive when there\u2019s in a life-threatening situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt could mean life or death for someone who\u2019s having an emergency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n