The National Park Service has long faced challenges retaining competent staff to run Yosemite. But recent actions taken by the “department” of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have wrought havoc threatening not only NPS staff but also visitors, Aramark (Yosemite’s concessionaire) employees and the park itself. It’s chaos, as the San Francisco Chronicle explains.
DOGE is a new creature of the federal government, not a cabinet-level Department created by Congress (e.g. Interior, Defense, State). It is an organization created by a temporary government contract through Executive Order.
DOGE’s nationwide hiring freeze is the bluntest of all possible instruments. Yosemite is but one of many pawns nationwide as DOGE seeks to eliminate waste in government spending.
It’s essential to note that Yosemite, like many national parks is highly dependent on seasonal hires to manage summertime crowds. It simply cannot operate without them. Permanent and seasonal rangers are needed to manage traffic, to clean bathrooms, to protect meadows, ensure visitor safety etc. (Imagine, for example, 20,000 people in Yosemite on a summer’s day without functional restrooms!)
Moreover, there’s a human cost. Morale may be at an all time low in Yosemite. Restore Hetch Hetchy has been often critical of the National Park Service for neglecting the Hetch Hetchy area, but, as a whole, rangers are dedicated to protecting our precious parks so we can fully enjoy and appreciate them. Rangers need and deserve the respect of the public and our nation’s leaders alike.
We are all against waste. But DOGE cannot be permitted to take ignorant unilateral action from thousands of miles away without regard to what makes Yosemite one of America’s flagship national parks.
We hope and pray that cooler heads will prevail and will take the time to assess the effectiveness and utility of all government institutions. Yosemite and all our national parks belong to all Americans. We cannot allow them to be political pawns.