Stacy Ramsey and Leah Saffian worked at the Buffalo National River, part of Arkansas’ Ozark National Forest, until they were among about 1,000 National Park Service workers who were laid off last month as part of the Trump administration’s wave of federal mass firings.
“I actually worked seven days a week for a few weeks just to get my foot in the door,” said Ramsey, who worked as a river ranger before being let go.
Saffian had 10 days to move and start her new job as a campground manager for the park service. She took out a loan to purchase a $16,000 camper she could use as a residence.
But she was let go about three weeks into the job.
“I feel very disrespected,” Saffian told CBS News. “…I cycle through being angry, sad, distressed.”
Since President Trump took office, thousands of federal workers have been fired by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is headed up by billionaire Elon Musk, as part of the new administration’s efforts to enact major budget cuts. The layoffs at the park service amounted to about 5% of the agency’s workforce of approximately 20,000 employees.
Park service jobs can range from collecting entrance fees to cleaning up trash to conducting search-and-rescue missions. The agency oversees more than 85 million acres across the U.S., such as the Buffalo National River.
“It’s one of the only places I can go to and just kind of completely forget everything that’s going on and just have a sense of peace when you’re here,” Ramsey said of the river.
Ramsey worked along the Buffalo National River as its only permanent river ranger, saving dozens of hikers and boaters on search and rescue missions.
“This is, like, home to me for sure,” Ramsey said.
Losing the job to her is more than just losing a dream or the income it brought. Every eight weeks to manage her Crohn’s disease, Stacy has given herself a shot that, without health insurance, would cost $27,500, almost her entire annual salary with the park service.
With health insurance, the shot was $5. But her health insurance expires in less than 30 days, and without the shot, she says she could end up in the hospital.
“These thousands of employees terminated are all real people,” Ramsey said. “They’re all people who have families, who have mortgages, utility bills, bills to pay.”
For both Ramsey and Saffian, finding a job with benefits will be harder because they moved to the remote Ozarks.
“I’m not going to, you know, live my life at the end of a string,” Saffian said. “I have to come up with another plan to make this work.”
They are left wondering if their sacrifices paid off. Ramsey says she is still keeping her park service uniforms “just in case.”
Says Ramsey, “Hopefully, I’ll get it back into the park service eventually.”
