The Green and Gray Retort, Vol. I, Issue 3
⛺ Welcome back for the third edition of the Green and Gray Retort, the official newsletter of the Resistance Rangers. Come for the real stories unfolding on our public lands; stay for the adorable animals, a healthy amount of snark, and heartwarming personal stories. We offer solidarity to staff and stakeholders alike in this time of great upheaval.
🌟Throughout the turmoil, there are incredible people doing incredible things in parks. Want some proof? See this post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMs1QKUyBSf/
💔Cast A-RIF’ed…Again?
As of this writing, NPS employees are in an eerie waiting period, waiting for further news about expected RIFs. To be honest - the fact that the RIF is still on pause is a WIN. Each week without a RIF is a victory. In advance of any official announcement about the fates of thousands of rangers, we would like to give our appreciation and gratitude to anyone who will be affected - thank you for your hard work and dedication to protecting America’s public lands and heritage.
Lingering in the background, but also of note, is that the Trump administration extended the hiring freeze for permanent positions another 90 days (until October 15th). By that point, the NPS will have been unable to fill the growing number of empty permanent positions for 9 months and counting. Public safety and law enforcement related positions are exempt from these and other restrictions.
💡433 Spotlight
Let's put some lesser-known parks in the spotlight, shall we? This week, we look at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. Let’s give a shoutout to this hidden gem tucked away in North Texas; the “oasis of the Texas plains” is celebrating its 60th anniversary as an NPS unit this year! Containing the largest body of water 200 miles in each direction, this little-known and isolated site attracted 1,212,905 visitors in 2024 to experience an outdoor paradise. Choose your own adventure here with recreational options such as boating, biking, kayaking, hiking, horseback riding, and even off-roading!
Ample wildlife enjoy the lake and surrounding grasslands, including over 300 bird species! Showstoppers include: the Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, and lightning-fast Greater Roadrunner. The land has a fascinating history as well: it’s been a lifeblood to many different Native American tribes throughout history, it was visited by Spanish explorers, and it served as a family ranch for the McBride family following the forced removal of Native tribes. The McBride home is the oldest surviving building in that county. Click here to learn more!
🆕Guardians of Heritage
RR’s incredible Cultural Resources team is proud to present the first in their series of articles breaking down how the crucial, necessary work they do alongside our Indigenous tribal communities. Learn how these professionals ensure that agreements are upheld, emphasize Indigenous history and culture in an honest and accurate manner, and pursue co-stewardship possibilities of our public lands. Read the first of many articles here!
⌚One Thing to Watch:
Tucked into the officially titled Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), signed into law on July 4th, is a provision that ends all programs funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. This includes a loss of $267,000,000 in Inflation Reduction Act funds that were intended to be used for NPS hiring (or continued funding of current NPS positions). We regret to inform our readers that yet more projects and jobs will fall by the wayside as a result of this bill.
Due to this provision, current IRA-funded positions are also at risk of being cut. How this manifests for IRA-funded employees varies from park to park. Some parks have alternate funding sources available to cover the personnel costs of these positions, while other parks do not. Many of these IRA-funded positions and programs were specifically slated to prepare for the 250th birthday of the United States in 2026 - something that this administration has been laser-focused on. These parks are now forced to make an impossible decision: use money dedicated to other projects to ensure A250 carries on? Sacrifice hiring much-needed positions in maintenance, administration, and safety so they can continue to pay the amazing rangers dedicated to A250?
We can’t talk about funding without talking about tax cuts for the rich. We thought it miiiiiight be helpful to showcase just how much money in taxes will no longer be collected from the ultra-wealthy:
💰 For Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, SpaceX received $3.7 billion in government contracts, over $400 million more than the entire NPS budget!
🤑 For the top 1% of Americans, the BBB tax cuts will save them $116 billion in 2026 alone. That amount of money could fund the NPS at current levels for over 35 years!
🤔 Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is a billionaire. Who do you think his policies are helping the most?
😓 End of an Era:
The Albright and Mather Training Centers (at Grand Canyon National Park and Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park, respectively) are set to be closed by DOI. These institutions, a crucial training base for park rangers and NPS employees for generations, are casualties of DOI’s restructuring of all training staff to the department level. Staff and former students who cut their ranger teeth at both centers lament what is the end of an era for the National Park Service. Rangers are currently sharing their transformative and memorable experiences at the Horace Albright Training Center for an upcoming episode of the Resistance Rangers On the Air podcast.
🔥 Words to Wallow With:
By transferring 'small p' parks to the states, the Trump administration and its supporters aren't giving states more power or saving taxpayer money. They'll be cutting off your access to public land and devastating state economies in the process. Overwhelming state budgets. Dismantling the systems that keep public lands running. We know that the National Park system units are powerful economic drivers of our local and state economies.”
- New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
And we have a double feature here this week! The natural resources committee in the House is making their own stir, via a letter targeting Doug Burgum.
📺 Propaganda of the Week (POTY):
For those outside the NPS/Department of the Interior (DOI) workforce, we feel it is worth shining a spotlight on the state of the Inside Interior media since the change in administration this year. Once a fascinating insight into the projects and people working to aid in the Interior’s mission of managing the cultural and natural resources of the nation, Inside Interior has become a laughable propaganda arm of the Department and Administration.
The edition for July 4th, however, was a pathetic showing - even by these new, low standards. Like something out of the Onion, we open with an eagle screeching (actually the sound of a red-tailed hawk) and Trump dancing to the YMCA. It ends with tips on how to celebrate July 4th “the MAGA way.” (How do you spell “Hatch Act violation? M-A-G-A)
In the middle of that brutal propaganda sandwich is a fawning Deputy Press Secretary (Aubrie Spady) going to such extreme lengths to praise the president that it almost seems like a joke. Beneath it all, there is not one message in line with the Department’s mission. Here’s the link; prepare for copious amounts of cringe.
🌲Updates
We close this issue with updates on some headlines from our prior releases, on the Western wildfires and the QR code “Snitch Signs.”
At last update (8/4), the fire raging along the South Rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison reached 52% containment after engulfing over 4,000 acres thus far. Park infrastructure that has been damaged includes bathrooms, a maintenance facility, and part of a campground. The North Rim has been able to partially reopen to visitors.
Down at the Grand Canyon, the situation remains critical. The Dragon Bravo Fire, which consumed the historic lodge and park housing along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, continues to grow and has become the largest wildfire in the United States so far in 2025, now having covered over 100,000 acres. As of August 8th, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has officially closed for the season and several trails remain closed due to smoke inside the canyon.
Over in California, Muir Woods National Monument is in the news for becoming the first victim of the “Snitch Sign” initiative that DOI engaged in to root out signs that “portrays American history and landscapes in a negative light.” A historical sign along the park’s main trail through stunning coastal redwoods, which described the timeline of how the grove to be protected, was updated in 2021 to acknowledge the original Indigenous caretakers, the women’s group that campaigned for protection, and the layered history of some key players in the protection of the area. A comment area was added for feedback about the project, which was overwhelmingly positive. The original sign had never been fully replaced; just additions were made to it by Muir Woods rangers. Those additions are now being forcibly removed.
Being a ranger these days is tough. It’s even more tough when your park is on fire, your home has burned, or you’re a first-hand witness to insane censorship. If you’d like to drop a line of support, please send well-wishes to:
Black Canyon of the Gunnison staff: 102 Elk Creek, Gunnison CO 81230
Grand Canyon North Rim staff, PO Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
Muir Woods staff: 1 Muir Woods Rd, Mill Valley, CA 94941
📰 A note on future issues:
Have a cool story you want highlighted here? Want to showcase that once-in-a-lifetime pic you captured at a park recently? Have some insight, reflection, or idea that you feel is worth sharing to the Resistance? What are you waiting for?! Reach out to us and we may just include your submission in future editions!
In solidarity - and for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations,
Resistance Rangers