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Trump says NPS staff aren't needed. Fires and trash say otherwise [1]

['Jason Weisberger']

Date: 2025-10-24  

The Trump administration has left the national parks open, even though most of the workers aren't there. More than 450 former park employees sent a letter saying running the parks like ghost towns is reckless. Fires ignite, toilets overflow, and campers become squatters. Welcome to America's wilderness, where the wildest thing is the neglect.

They're worried about reports of misbehavior in the parks, specifically pointing to a wildfire sparked near an unstaffed campground in Joshua Tree National Park and illegal BASE jumpers and squatters flaunting rules in Yosemite National Park. These incidents "clearly demonstrate the problems with keeping parks open with minimal or no staff," a letter sent Thursday from 450 former employees to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum states. "We write to you with great alarm after dangerous and life-threatening incidents at national parks and urge you once again to close all national parks until the government re-opens," the letter reads. According to the letter, there are also "less high-profile reports of bathrooms overflowing, trash that is not being picked up, and trails that are not being safely maintained or monitored, which add urgency to our ask." SF Gate

During one of Trump's first term government shutdowns, I lived inside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The parks were closed, but the public was still awful. Garbage everywhere, campers on a beach where camping was illegal, and fires far outside NPS-designated fire circles threatened our neighborhood. Stories from Yosemite this go-around have been terrible, and I do not doubt that the park run by renegade rock climbers will not go well.

Previously:

• Government shutdown spells trouble for travelers: Here's how Babbel could help

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