SALT LAKE CITY — It's estimated that since President Trump returned to office, the National Park Service has lost 2,400 employees due to federal cuts that have touched all corners of the government.
According to that estimate from the National Parks Conservation Association, those losses total 12 percent of the park service's workforce.
So, what does that mean for Utah?
Fiscal 2023 full-time employee figures at all the National Park Service units in
the Beehive State ranged from 169 employees at Zion National Park to just 6 at Hovenweep National Monument.
Lop off 12 percent of those workers, and that could be what’s happening in Utah's national parks. That's “could” because neither the park service nor the Trump Administration has reported current employee figures.
Zion National Park, surrounding areas haven't felt tourism downturn... yet:
At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which includes Lake Powell, the park service has said 12 probationary employees were terminated on February 14, with only nine choosing to return.
“The Administration has also been offering some deferred resignation programs, and I don't have a total of employees that have taken that deferred resignation as they are to be exiting the workplace by the end of May,” explained Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Superintendent Michelle Kerns. “We are very focused on making sure that Glen Canyon is open and accessible, and we are pivoting staff where we need to.”
Kerns emphasized that there are always challenges at Glen Canyon, from water levels on Lake Powell to weather to how visitation has doubled in the last decade to nearly seven million people.
