Hirono, colleagues concerned over National Park staffing shortages due to hiring freeze

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined colleagues in urging newly confirmed US Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to immediately take action to resolve looming staffing shortages at the National Park Service.

Hirono, who is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, joined Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Angus King (I-ME), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and 17 colleagues writing the letter.

The letter follows President Trump’s hiring freeze, his cancellation of thousands of job offers for seasonal National Park Service employees, and his buyout offers made.  “These actions pave the way for a damaging loss of staff at national parks across the nation in the coming summer months and beyond,” according to a news release from Hirono.

She notes that the National Park Service staff in Hawaiʻi play vital roles in keeping visitors safe, protecting park resources, and ensuring that visitors have positive experiences. Any lack of park staff, she said, presents challenges to carrying out these basic functions.

“Without seasonal staff during this peak season, visitor centers may close, bathrooms will be filthy, campgrounds may close, guided tours will be cut back or altogether cancelled, emergency response times will drop, and visitor services like safety advice, trail recommendations, and interpretation will be unavailable,” wrote the Senators.

“We are also alarmed that the administration’s offer of deferred resignation and voluntary early retirement, made without clear legal authority, as well as open threats about future terminations will lead to a damaging loss of full-time staff at the National Park Service, which is already operating well below prior staffing levels despite significant increases in visitation,” the Senators wrote. 

The National Park Service includes 433 national park units in all 50 states.

In addition to Senators Hirono, Merkley, Murray, King, and Heinrich, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The full text of the letter is available here