Rangers warn that cutting behind the scenes positions and programs will jeopardize the mission of the Park Service. The agency has made clear it intends to target hundreds of NPS employees, a move that would deepen an already growing crisis and put the future of our national parks at risk. We have no more staff to spare.

These reckless cuts come on the heels of significant staff losses starting in late January that have already stripped the National Park Service of 20 to 30% of its workforce, gutting essential programs and putting public safety at risk.

Resistance Rangers Warn Parks Won’t Survive Cuts Without Irreversible Damage

In a new move to hide the continued dismantling of the National Park Service, over 1,600 employees were removed from NPS on Sunday, May 4 and “consolidated” under DOGE control in the Department of the Interior. These employees work in parks across the country, serving as spokespeople, IT workers, and media staff who manage websites, update park social media, and design interpretive signs and exhibits. In at least four parks, emergency services dispatchers were also consolidated to DOI.

The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing for another wave of firings nationwide as soon as this week that could amount to nearly 25% across the Department of the Interior. These reductions would paralyze the ability of the NPS to carry out its legally mandated mission. Firings may focus on regional and national programs instead of park staff to make the cuts less visible to the public.

In response to the removal of over 100 queer and transgender stories from National Park Service (NPS) websites, Resistance Rangers is launching Rangers Uncensored. This site compiles edited and deleted NPS webpages, which are available through the Internet Archive. An accompanying Instagram account, @rangers_uncensored, will also highlight these stories. This project is announced in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.

On March 22, 2025, thousands gathered at over 110 national park sites across the United States to speak up for public lands and federal workers. These rallies build on peaceful protests hosted by Resistance Rangers at over 400 parks earlier this month.

These continuing demonstrations highlight Americans’ widespread support for their public lands, and their eagerness to take action to protect them for current and future generations.

Resistance Rangers calls on all supporters of national parks and public lands to participate in a nationwide day of action. Rallies and teach-ins will be held at park sites across the country. Attendees are encouraged to reflect on what parks mean to them, and to share those stories – with each other, and with their elected representatives through phone calls, letters, and emails.  

These gatherings will show solidarity with unlawfully-fired federal workers, including park rangers.

We urge the public to contact Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to demand immediate reinstatement of unlawfully fired staff.

In a departure from the norm, the NPS directed individual park units to “not issue a press release or other proactive communications, including social media posts” about the final 2024 visitation data from all National Park Service sites, which was published on March 5, 2025.

Park sites recorded over 331 million recreation visits in 2024, a new all-time high by about one million visits. The previous high was set in 2016, the NPS centennial year.

In just three days, thousands of people passionate about public lands have mobilized to protest at 169 National Park sites across the country. On February 26th, the off-duty park ranger group @resistancerangers called for action to protect America’s public lands. In the 3 days since, the resistance account has gained 20,000 followers on social media. And on Saturday 3/1, thousands of patriotic people showed up to NPS sites to protest, representing a groundswell of nationwide public support for federal workers and the National Park Service’s mission to protect parks for the public and future generations.

A group of people united by their concern for public lands and employees of federal land management agencies will protest nationwide Saturday, March 1. This effort was spearheaded by a group of 650+ off-duty park rangers rallying to save public lands and protect civil servants. Rangers and the Parks themselves are under threat and we need to speak up. America’s Best Idea is yours to save!

We stand with all other public land agencies that share our values in stewarding the land and recognize the inherent value of biodiversity and thriving ecosystems.

The agencies managing our public lands do not have fat to trim. Prior to the recent firing of National Park Service employees, the department was already critically understaffed: employee numbers have decreased by 20% in the last 15 years while visitation has risen more than 15%. The National Park Service’s 2025 budget authority request was for $4.81 billion: Meanwhile, in 2022 visitors spent $23.9 billion in local gateway regions, supporting more than 378,000 jobs, generating $17.5 billion in labor income, $29 billion in economic value added, and $50.3 billion in total economic output.

Photo by Patrick Mueller