BAKER (NV) — Recent layoffs at Great Basin National Park have raised concerns within the small town of Baker. Located about 290 miles north of Las Vegas, it is the gateway community to our state's only national park.
The park is known for its unique features including Nevada's only glacier, some of the world's oldest trees and a notable cave network. The park receives approximately 140,000 visitors per year and about 50,000 people visit Lehman Caves annually.
Breaking Down the Downsize:
As of Feb. 14th, Great Basin has five fewer employees to run operations that oversee the park's unique features than it did just over a week ago.
Two former rangers shared their experiences with me anonymously, describing their termination as shocking and painful. They reported the notice was via email— they had just one hour to vacate and would receive no severance.
"When I gave up my badge, it felt like I was ripping on a piece of my heart," said one of the individuals, "[It's] a state of shock, a state of disbelief, really, that this is what people wanted."
I felt hurt. Yeah, working here, this is my first job in the Park Service, and it's something that I dreamed about as a kid.
This comes as the White House — in partnership with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency — works to downsize a handful of federal agencies.
1,000 National Park Service probationary employees have been reportedly laid off at this point, although there are indications summer seasonal hiring is still on tap. For federal positions, new hires or the newly promoted typically have a 12-month probationary period.
The move left one former ranger with questions:
“Who is Elon Musk? Who is he to do this? Who does he answer to, where are his checks and balances? And what can we, and by we, I mean our representatives and we the people, what can we do to ensure that this is not an overreach, that it's not unconstitutional?"
"We had an overall reduction of about 20 percent of staff. For the visitor services, that number was 50 percent and for custodial services, that was 50 percent. So the immediate impact is that we had to cancel a number of cave tours that weekend immediately following," they continued.
A Ripple Effect:
"I just worry about that, the public safety angle. In general, there is no professional fire department out here. There is no professional ambulance service. It's volunteer, and now the valley is left with one EMT who cannot operate the ambulance on their own," said the former ranger.
One Baker business owner I spoke with said she's concerned that the cuts will impact the broader community.
"This is really an amazing community of rangers. They chose to live and work here, and now, through a stroke of a pen, they no longer have that," said Liz Woolsey, who runs the Bristlecone General Store and Stargazer Inn.
Businesses that are here in Baker certainly rely on tourism and travelers, so we are unsure what that's going to look like this season. So that's an unknown and that's unsettling when your business really relies on that.
Park advocates say the permanent staff cuts may force national parks to cut operating hours and could impact public safety and resource protection.
