The Green and Gray Retort, Vol. I, Edition 1
June 24, 2025 | Volume I, Issue 1
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Welcome to the first edition of the Green and Gray Retort, the official newsletter of the Resistance Rangers. Come for the real story 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.
Video link for “We’re Beautiful!”: https://youtu.be/e-YdewrR8CI
A note for our Native friends watching this: an owl warning from 0:30-0:37 in the video.
💔 Cast A-RIF’ed
The opening half of 2025 has been…rough for the National Park Service (NPS). In short: there is a hiring freeze preventing permanent jobs from getting filled; multiple retirement and resignation package offers have reduced senior leadership and overall staffing; and many illegally-fired probationary employees moved onto other work, leaving their positions vacant.
On top of that, the Department of the Interior (DOI) is moving forward with plans for a Reduction-in-Force (RIF), which could mean firing thousands more park staff. Consolidations have already begun: 1600 rangers from human resources, communications, finance, and IT were randomly moved from NPS to DOI in May without warning or clear instruction.
Let’s be clear - unilaterally firing thousands of staff and restructuring the NPS without consent of Congress is unconstitutional. RIFs have occurred during multiple administrations but always with Congressional approval. They typically follow set standards and guidelines…not this time, folks!
We are in uncharted territory, and we’re gonna need a bigger boat. With no confirmed details, rumors abound: we have no idea how many rangers they want to fire, but we know it will be a critical loss. We’re told public-facing staff might be less likely to be targeted (due to the desire to keep up the appearance of “business as usual”) but the administration keeps making more bad moves.
Everyone else - the folks who make purchases, ensure everyone is paid, provide digital security, work on hiring, protect nature and history, and generally keep the parks running - are likely first on the chopping block. Learn more about the #NoParksWithout campaign on our Instagram!
However, the tide may turn: US District Judge Susan Illston issued a 14 day pause on RIF for agencies already deep into the process, which was extended to an indefinite pause on May 22nd. On May 31st, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld this ruling, which will now likely head to the Supreme Court. This decision affirms what we all knew - what the administration is doing to decimate the park service is illegal and unconstitutional.
🏳️🌈 Happy Pride Month!
The Resistance wishes all our readers, and especially those a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, a very happy Pride Month! In this time of consistent attacks on inclusive history, we unequivocally stand with you.
The Resistance Rangers continue to add to our Rangers Uncensored initiative, which documents this administration’s censorship of NPS media. This page serves as a catalogue of archived pages documenting the history of our nation, including stories specific to the LGBTQIA+ community.
⌚ One Thing to Watch:
What do staffing shortages, the cancellation of funding and building leases, and Executive Orders aimed at erasing or not telling certain parts of America’s history have in common? They will all negatively impact the NPS’ relationship with Tribal Nations. In coming weeks, Resistance Rangers will share a series of blogs on the impacts these changes are having on Tribal Nations and the duties the NPS is obligated to uphold. Stay tuned for the first article in the series!
🙃 National Snark Service
On May 21, new Secretary of the Interior and noted Creed enthusiast Doug Burgum dropped by Olympic National Park. Word spread quickly around the National Park community, and at the end of his tour, Mr. Burgum found himself outside the visitor center in a position he clearly did not expect or prepare for. Family members of park employees met Burgum; after the DOGE-deferring secretary offered a token statement of appreciation for the service of employees, one individual astutely pointed out that his “appreciation” rang a touch bit hollow, when layoffs continue to loom on the horizon. If you are someone who finds comedy in the cringe, you are in for a special treat. Watch the fireworks for yourself here.
In other news, loyalty tests are all the rage on federal applications. One such application will ask an applicant's favorite executive order and how the applicant will help advance it through their work. Some truly difficult decisions will need to be made between withdrawing from the World Health Organization, solving the “real issues” of the day by renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and the ever-timely crusade against paper straws (charmingly championed by the DOI as restoring freedom to our public lands!). Or maybe you lean towards the time when copper imports threatened our national security, a friendly tiff with a law firm, or even the war on weak showerheads. The last one might be this writer’s favorite - how better to demonstrate fealty than by… working on my water pressure?
💡433 Spotlight
Let’s focus on something positive, shall we? Big news coming out of Gateway Arch National Park, as St. Louis’ Old Courthouse was reopened to the public on May 4th following three years of renovations. Construction started in 1839 and concluded in 1864, but before its iconic golden dome was complete, the courthouse had already been the site of a landmark case in American history.
In 1846, an enslaved man, Dred Scott, sued for his and his wife Harriet’s freedom on the grounds that they had been moved to free territory (Wisconsin and Illinois) for 9 years before their time in Missouri. This led to the infamous 1857 Dred Scott vs. Sandford Supreme Court case. In a later lawsuit by the Scotts, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney determined that Scott (and all Black Americans) were not United States citizens and thus had no right to sue; in the same ruling, he declared the prior Missouri Compromise null and void. This inflamed tensions throughout the country in the lead up to the Civil War.
The Gateway Arch team is very proud to have added a new exhibit within the Courthouse. It adds context to the Dred Scott case, focusing on the lives of enslaved people in Missouri at the time. They have meticulously worked to ensure the honest and historical accuracy of the exhibit, aiming to provide a more inclusive view of the case and the broader events leading up to the Civil War.
🐣 Cute Animal of The Issue
Three words: DENALI. PUPPY. CAMS.
Get your cuteness overload here!
🔥 Words to Wallow With:
“History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.”
- Martha P. Johnson, legendary LGBTQ+ activist and participant in the Stonewall Inn Uprising
🗞️ 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,
Resistance Rangers