Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** More than 700 National Park Service staff accept Trump's resignation offer
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Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Yellowstone National Park North entrance. Source: NPS / Jacob W. Frank. ([link removed])
More than 700 National Park Service employees ([link removed]) have submitted their resignations following the Trump administration's offer to resign. According to an internal agency memo shared with the New York Times ([link removed]) , workers who agreed to the resignation plan would not be permitted to work after March 7. Federal workers received the resignation offer in an email sent by Elon Musk last month entitled “A Fork in the Road.” Under the offer, employees who accept will leave their jobs, but continue getting paid through September, while those who do not accept it risked being fired.
The resignations follow the Interior department's decision ([link removed]) earlier this month to fire more than 1,000 full-time Park Service employees, which came on the heels of another staffing setback in January when the agency rescinded job offers to about 5,000 seasonal workers ([link removed]) . The drastic cuts to the Park Service workforce have sparked massive public outcry, and are already causing some parks to reduce hours, cancel tours, and close visitor centers. As many as 325 million people ([link removed]) visit the nation’s 63 national parks and hundreds of historic sites and other attractions that are managed by the National Park Service.
“The National Park Service is in crisis and things are only getting worse. In a matter of weeks, 9 percent of Park Service staff have been lost to mass firings and resignations. And this is on top of hundreds of vacant positions that can’t be filled due to the ongoing hiring freeze,” said ([link removed]) Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association. “These indiscriminate cuts are neither strategic nor efficient; they are devastating. These actions will set the National Park Service back years,” she added.
Western voters reject anti-public lands policies
In a new blog post ([link removed]) , Center for Western Priorities' Digital Media Coordinator and Content Creator Sterling Homard digs into the results of the 2025 Colorado College Conservation in the West poll ([link removed]) . Now in its 15th year, the poll results show that voters across the West strongly support protecting public land, water, and wildlife—a far cry from the Trump administration’s policies on public lands.
** Quick hits
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More than 700 National Park Service staff accept Trump's resignation offer
New York Times ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed])
Wyoming politicians back DOGE as fired federal workers try to pick up the pieces
WyoFile ([link removed])
Patagonia CEO: Trump shouldn't sell our public lands
TIME ([link removed])
Trump admin backtracks on some National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service firings
Colorado Sun ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | KXLF ([link removed])
Editorial: Donald Trump, aided by DOGE, just crippled California's ability to fight wildfires
Sacramento Bee ([link removed])
National parks cut hours, limit services as layoffs reduce staffing
USA Today ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])
Fired U.S. Forest Service workers warn of 'unforeseen consequences'
CBS News ([link removed])
Poll: Regardless of party, voters oppose cuts to federal land management agencies
Heartland Signal ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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” I don't know whether we’ll see overflowing latrines, polluted streams, or deadly wildfires first, but Doug Burgum is already leaving a path of destruction across America’s parks and public lands. These terminations are foolish, heartless, and do nothing to make the government more efficient.”
—Aaron Weiss, deputy director of Center for Western Priorities, USA Today ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
Oxen tip over due to high winds. Lose two days.
Date: Feb. 25, 2025
Weather: Windy
Health: Meh
Food: 242 lbs
Next landmark: 48 miles
Miles traveled: 948
Times bitten by snake: 16
Rivers successfully forded: 0
High winds reported in the Scotts Bluff area today. Please secure your wagon and stop dissin’ Terry. What do you mean a snake bit you? Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska was essential landmark for those traversing the Oregon Trail. Today, more than 2,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can be seen. There are also numerous museums, historic sites, and original trail segments, including around Scott’s Bluff, located the length of the trail. Have you explored the Oregon Trail? Ugh, there went the axle.
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