Postcards from the Parks

National Parks have long been a cherished family summer destination. Will all of that change this year?

It was a classic moment - high summer, a station wagon piled to the fake-wooden side panels with kids and parents and sleeping bags, a tent that didn’t leak, a dog that did. In the blast of the open windows, the Texaco highway map that no one could seem to refold flapped like a frantic bird, dropped popcorn swirled around our feet in a kind of dime-store blizzard.

And then it all seemed to stop. The noise quit. The map seemed to stop flapping. I swear even the dog stopped and looked because there, outside the finger-smeared windows of that old station wagon was another world: Rocky Mountain National Park. Elk grazing in a sunlit valley. Bighorn sheep silhouetted on the cliffs as if posing for portraits, and, in my memory at least, a rainbow arching through its seven colors wrapping it all up like a ribbon.

Since the days of jingles like “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet” it has been a kind of rite of passage, the summer road trip to one of our national parks. Last year, some 330 million people visited a national park. More than 15 billion people have visited a national park since visitation records started being kept in 1904. That is a lot of station wagons.

This year, for some at least, the station wagon may just stay in the garage. Recently, the headlines have blared: “Department of Interior fires 2,300” and “Thousands fired from the National Park Service” and “Some Parks Fear Closures for Lack of Rangers.” Rumors and social media posts whispered of seasonal hiring freezes. Nationally the parks hire between 7,000 and 9,000 seasonal rangers each year (close to two dozen here in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore). These are the smiling faces you see at entry stations and ranger talks, wildflower hikes, and when picking up your camping permit. It is the ranger who asks your kids to raise their right hand and be sworn in as Junior Rangers.

But it is also often the NPS personnel involved in search and rescue when you get lost, in maintaining clean and safe campgrounds and visitor centers, ensuring clean drinking water. It is the skilled carpenters that shore up historic lighthouses, and boat operators ferrying staff and crews between remote island outposts, and more. It is difficult to imagine how the parks would function without being fully staffed but the air was more full of rumor than fact.

So, I went straight to the source, a working National Park Ranger, asking for their viewpoint on what is happening in the National Park Service and what they are seeing from their vantage point. This is a person who bleeds the “gray and green” colors of the NPS, who drives around with a collection of dozens of Park “Junior Ranger” badges on the sun visors of their car, who has worked seasonally for years in an entire gamut of parks to earn their “permanent” and safe (for now) position. While they have not been fired yet, this ranger (who for obvious reasons wishes to remain anonymous) is a first-hand witness to the chaos.

Here, in their own words, is what they are seeing in our beloved national parks.

“There is an uncomfortable amount of silence from leadership, both inside the park and from above. I have a direct coworker who is probationary, as well as a colleague in maintenance but they have survived. We don't know if they will slip through, or if there is another wave coming through next week, and they are both veterans as well. We have had no internal confirmation on reports of seasonal hiring moving forward. I have seen folks saying that even probationary staffers that took the Fork in the Road offer were also let go, but I cannot confirm that.

It's a bit disheartening that I haven't seen more public outrage at mass firings at any agency or department, but I know that there is a soft spot for the NPS in the public, so hopefully that's the wakeup call we need.”

“Parks need people who care. Fortunately for the National Park Service, our workforce is rich in dedicated rangers who work tirelessly to conserve natural spaces, preserve our history and culture, and ensure access to safe and sustainable recreation opportunities. For many of us, doing this work came at a cost. We needed to work our way through the ranks, which most times involves working as a seasonal employee. This comes with sacrifices: relationships are strained, living quarters are often subpar at best, and the milestones of life are often put on hold. I’ve done all this and more. Those of us who survived Valentine’s Day are now faced with a new burden: we stand as the last line of defense of these national treasures.”

Those were the words of someone on the inside. Much is still unknown but many are asking what can be done to help. Here are three specific steps you can take to help.

1) Take a moment to reflect on the importance of national parks in your life and in your community. Do you have cherished family memories, adventures, moments in your life closely connected to our national parks? These are gifts. And, sometimes gifts don’t come free. With the strength of those memories burning brightly inside of you, consider these next two action steps.

2) Go to www.Congress.gov to learn how to write/call your representatives asking them to push back against the hiring freeze and layoffs. It is easy, quick and can make a difference. Simply state your name, tell them you are a constituent by giving them your address, and have a two or three sentence statement asking them to oppose the hiring freeze and firings because the parks are important to all of us. Scripts are available (message me if I can help you write one) but it is most important just to speak from the heart and straight to the point, briefly. Be heard. Call every day if you can. Call whether your representatives are Republican or Democrats or Independents. Call. Call. Call. Here is a link to help you get started:

3) Many (not all) national park units have a Friends group such as Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore that help people help their parks. These are independent philanthropic nonprofit organizations made up of people who love parks as much as you do. Find the Friends group for your favorite park and donate, volunteer, support them and their park.

Here are a couple of buttons, one for the Friends Alliance (a national group of Friends organizations to help you find the park you care most about and its Friends group) and one for the park I love, the Apostle Islands (full disclosure - my wife Jill and I act as the Executive Directors of this organization). Take a Stand for our parks.

Now is the time to stand up for your parks, the parks that have given us so many memories and postcard moments. Take a stand. Protect your parks. Or this summer, the postcards from national parks may read simply, “Wish You Were Here!”

— Jeff Rennicke (all photography by the author unless otherwise noted).