When British novelist J.B. Priestley visited the Grand Canyon in the 1930s, he described it as “all of Beethoven’s nine symphonies in stone and magic light.”
“If I were an American,” he wrote, “I should make my remembrance of it the final test of men, art, and policies … Every member or officer of the federal government ought to remind himself, with triumphant pride, that he is on the staff of the Grand Canyon.”
In February, as part of the Trump Administration’s effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce, approximately 1,000 employees were laid off across the Park Service. When the federal government fired some of the Park Service staff who work at the canyon, this was the scene near the South Rim:
In the weeks since, there have been protests at hundreds of park service sites, from Acadia to Zion.
Jim Landahl worked as a seasonal ranger for years, until he got a promotion to a permanent posting at Grand Canyon six months ago. Then came the termination email. He said it stated that “we lacked the necessary skills, qualifications, fitness to perform this job. And I didn’t take that personally at all, because I knew that was a lie. I knew that was false. Whoever wrote that letter wasn’t hiking with me down into the canyon in a hundred-degree heat to do our job.”
Landahl’s work involved restoring habitat disturbed by the reconstruction of the park’s failing Transcanyon Waterline, which provides water to lodges and other infrastructure. Since he’d been in this position for less than a year, he was classified as a “probationary employee.”
“The project is a critical infrastructure project for Grand Canyon,” said archeologist Leah Gallo. “And without it, there would be pretty much no Grand Canyon.”
Gallo had only been working on the project for two weeks when she was let go. “I spent pretty much every dime to move here,” she said.
But this past Thursday, two federal judges ruled that the government must reinstate thousands of fired probationary workers across several agencies, finding that the layoffs were carried out under false pretenses – that performance wasn’t a factor.
It’s currently unclear if and when Park Service staff might be back on the job.
Mindy Riesenberg is the chief of communications for the Grand Canyon Conservancy, a non-profit group that supports the park. As we enter the busy season, she says she’s worried about people having to wait in several-hour-long lines just to get into the park. “We had almost five million visitors last year at Grand Canyon,” she said. “And now I think we’re down to about 11 fee collectors for the South Rim, for five million people a year.”
When we visited the canyon last weekend, visitors were waiting up to an hour-and-a-half to enter the park. In New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns National Park had cancelled all ranger-led tours. Colorado’s Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument announced it would be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays due to the staffing cuts.
Cuts also impact ongoing projects visitors might not see, like the Transcanyon Waterline. Riesenberg said, “That project is going to be held up, because scientists and botanists and arborists who were replanting trees down there for shade, for safety, after that project, and that’s all gonna stop. It’s gonna hold the project up.”
Chuck Sams, who served as the 19th director of the National Park Service, stepped down in January. He said, “To me, it looks like there’s no rhyme or reason about why these things are taking place.”
During his time as director, Sams said, “I absolutely felt that we needed more employees. National Park Service needs at least 15% to as much as 25% more staff on the ground in order to fully meet its mandate. It’s important that these folks are out there. And now, we’ve seen a 10% reduction in staff. So it’s gonna be detrimental to people’s experiences in the parks.”
Asked for comment, the National Park Service’s Office of Public Affairs told “CBS Sunday Morning,” “The National Park Service remains steadfast in its commitment to serving the American public and preserving the natural and cultural resources entrusted to our care. However, NPS policy is to not comment on litigation related to personnel matters.”
Meanwhile, a group of current employees known as the “Resistance Rangers” has been tracking the cuts, speaking out on behalf of their fired coworkers.
One ranger, who asked that we conceal their identity out of fear of retaliation, told us, “None of us want to be doing this. We’re public land servants. We’re civil servants who just want to be doing our job. I cannot separate myself from the mission. I am doing this for the love of public lands. I’m doing this for my nieces and nephews. I’m doing this for the people to come in 150 years.”
The ranger is especially worried about the crush of visitors who will be headed to understaffed parks this spring and summer. “We were hobbled to begin with, and now our kneecaps are cut off,” they said. “In addition to that, we have $12 billion in maintenance deficit. Like, every single national park you ask me about that I’ve been to, I can point out six or seven high-priority products that need to happen in order to protect the integrity of that place. We just had our highest visitation year ever in history; 331 million people went to parks last year. That is an absurd number of people.”
Americans love their national parks. Last year, a Pew Research Center opinion poll found that, when it comes to federal agencies, the public has the most favorable view of the National Park Service. It ranked highest with Democrats AND Republicans.
Sams said, “During my service as the National Park Service director, I had never met a member of Congress that didn’t love the park that was in their home state. And I generally saw bipartisan support for the National Park Service. Moving forward, there has to be a strong understanding that parks aren’t partisan. The flora and fauna, the natural and cultural resources inside of the park don’t belong to any political party.”
Fired training specialist Lynda Jones joined the Park Service to serve her country. “Both my parents are veterans,” she said. “They served in the military. And they instilled in me the importance of public service.”
While Thursday’s court rulings have reinstated her position at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (at least temporarily), the Trump administration has appealed – and a larger reduction in force is still possible.
Which leaves park staff like Jones dealing with an uncertain future, worried about what’s to come. “This is the story of America,” Jones said, tearing up. “The story of the people who live here. And it doesn’t matter your background or where you’re from. These places belong to all of us. And they really are America’s best idea.”
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Story produced by Anthony Laudato. Editor: Carol Ross.
