Which D.C.-area national parks lost the most workers
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More than 750 national park workers have been fired amid the Trump administration's purge of federal employees, per an unofficial tally shared with Axios by a park ranger.
Why it matters: Our region is home to over 70 national parks that draw millions of visitors each year, from the National Mall to Shenandoah — and the layoffs have left fewer workers to do critical jobs as peak spring/summer season begins.
By the numbers: Shenandoah National Park is among the hardest-hit, per the tally, with 15 people fired.
- Nearly 40 employees were fired from the National Capital Region, which encompasses 15 designated parklands, including Great Falls, Glen Echo, the Mall, Rock Creek Park, and Civil War battlegrounds like Gettysburg and Manassas.
- Some of the hardest-hit include Harpers Ferry (9), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (6) and National Capital Parks East (6), which includes Frederick Douglass, Fort Washington and more.
What they're saying: "I don't think the parks are equipped to be able to handle the visitation that they get," says the ranger who shared the tally with Axios, adding that the stakes go far beyond long lines, crowded campsites and dirty bathrooms.
- "The odds of search-and-rescue missions turning into recoveries [of dead bodies] will be a lot higher this year than most," the ranger says.
- "There will be more people dying this year than probably any other year, and that's entirely due to the lack of staffing."
About 250 people die annually on NPS-managed lands, per Backpacker.
- Between 2007 and 2023, 40 people died in Shenandoah National Park.
- NPS notes that "many people have died entering the Potomac River Gorge" around Great Falls. That includes a swimmer who drowned last year attempting to cross the river.
State of play: The National Park Service told Axios this week that it's hiring seasonal workers "to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management."
Yes, but: Will the work arrive in time? Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, tells Axios it's common for parks to staff up for high season, but "normally at this time of the year, those hirings would be well along the way."
- Spring, especially with cherry blossoms, is a busy time. "What with the number of people [onboarding] — paperwork, background checks, training, finding places to live — there's going to be delays getting those people on board."
Meanwhile, Wade, a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, says summer "seasonals" — teachers, students, etc. — can typically double the staff in a park for a given time. But now, "What happens after they all leave? You're back to being even further reduced."
- He says many of the firings he's tracking are in education — people managing visitor centers and school groups — which is a key part of national parks, especially in the Washington region.
As for those who've kept jobs: "Morale is way down," Wade tells Axios. "There's a lot of uncertainty."
How it works: The local tallies come from a spreadsheet shared with Axios by a U.S. park ranger who requested anonymity to protect their job and employment prospects.
- The spreadsheet, which shows 755 total firings as of March 6, is based on reports from hundreds of rangers and other park workers in multiple online groups.
Because it's a crowdsourced effort, the document is likely incomplete and undercounts the full breadth of the firings.
- The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an independent parks advocacy group, says more than 1,000 park staffers were fired on Feb. 14.
NPS didn't provide an official count of firings and didn't respond to requests for comment.
Axios' Karri Peifer contributed to this story.