Due to the seasonal hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration, Yosemite National Park, located in eastern California and stretching along the Sierra Nevada mountain range, is short on cleaning staff. Biologists, hydrologists, archaeologists, wildlife specialists and other park scientists have been assigned to clean campground bathrooms. The decision, confirmed by internal emails, has raised ill feelings among employees. The measure is part of an order by the Department of the Interior aimed at keeping national parks open despite staff shortages.
As SFGATE reports, Ken Yager, founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association, argues that the move by the Trump administration demeans the work of park staff. “It seems to target the park service’s scientific community-the educated,” he pointed out.
One employee told the media, “When our manager first informed us that we had been assigned this new task, I was a little outraged,” and added, “We are already understaffed, mainly due to the hiring freeze caused by the new administration, and now we find ourselves handling a larger amount of work that, moreover, is not within our scope of responsibility.”
According to an internal email, the park’s leadership team has been evaluating several options for cleaning bathrooms at the Upper and Lower Pines campgrounds. However, even employing the reduced internal staff-composed of experts and scientists-remains under-resourced. For this reason, plans were made to involve volunteers in the cleaning services offered to camp guests, but to no avail. “Our priority is to offer visitors a high-quality experience. Right now that means ensuring that the campground bathrooms are clean.”
Some employees also expressed concern about the possibility of further cuts, as then the situation would become even more difficult and fall on an even smaller number of workers.
