How federal hiring freeze could get 'scary' for Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Visitors looking forward to a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park this spring and summer could encounter unkempt trails, unclean bathrooms and fewer park rangers.
The National Park Service was forced to rescind more than 2,000 seasonal and permanent positions nationwide under the widespread federal government hiring freeze enacted by the Trump administration Jan. 20.
Park advocates are raising the alarm about what the cuts will mean for visitors.
'Seasonal park rangers serving the public, (employees) giving programs or maybe working on maintenance crews, or working with the resource management crews, working with people who control the wild hogs and so forth: all of those jobs could be postponed or maybe not ever filled,' Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, explained to Knox News on Feb. 3.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park relies on 200 permanent employees and 140 seasonal employees, according to park statistics from 2024. Additionally, more than 1,600 people volunteered their time for the park to help staff between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024.
Francis, who served as deputy superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park for 11 years and as superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway for eight, also noted that local businesses would feel the effects of the hiring freeze.
'When you combine the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Parkway and visitation to the (Cherokee) National Forest in our region, you're talking about billions and billions of dollars of economic benefits. These are economic engines, you know, they're serving the American public.'
National parks generated $55.6 billion in economic output in 2023, the park service reported.
The park service typically posts spring and summer job openings between October and February and hiring for those positions ramps up in January and February, former park service director Jon Jarvis said to Politico.
Search and rescue and other emergency response positions might be the only hiring that will continue during the pause, Francis said. But even that's not a guarantee.
'So, that would have an adverse effect on the visitor experience. It might make the park a little less safe and it could have an impact on park resources,' Francis said.
Understaffing heading into the spring and summer season could interfere with operations at Sugarlands and other visitor center; educational and safety programming; trail and facility maintenance; bear management; and other projects.
National parks, including the Smokies, have seen record-breaking visitation in recent years. Visitation at national parks has increased 16% since 2010 even as staffing is down 20%, making it hard for parks to keep up with demand, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park in the country. Just over 12 million people visited during 2024. And the park had a 42% increase in visitation from 2013 to 2023.
Added uncertainties because of the hiring freeze include whether parks can begin to hire again for the season and whether applicants who had job offers rescinded must restart the federal hiring process.
'It's a scary time,' a park ranger told Politico's E&E News. The person, who was granted anonymity because of fear of retaliation from the Trump administration, also said the first two weeks of the new administration have been 'brutal' for the park service.
Francis also is concerned about the federal budget. The government avoided a shutdown in December, but the resolution signed then by President Joe Biden only runs through March 14.
'It would be nice to know what the prognosis is for a continuing budget (to fund the park service) for the remainder of the year,' Francis said. 'Is it going to be the same, is it going to be more, is it going to be less? The quicker the better for those folks who are managing the parks, who are still active and need to plan for the remainder of the year.'
The executive order halting hiring of federal civilian employees says that within 90 days the U.S. Office of Management and Budget "shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government's workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition."
National parks faced a similar hiring freeze situation in 2017 at the start of Trump's first term. In that instance, however, seasonal and short-term temporary employees were deemed exempt a week after the executive order was signed.
'I think the difference (now compared to 2017 is) more positions have been lost due to lack of adequate budgets. And so, it just exacerbates an existing problem,' Francis noted.
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.
Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Great Smoky Mountains National Park faces hiring freeze for summer
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
The tragic true story of Titan: The OceanGate Disaster and the submersible implosion
On 18 June 2023, five passengers descended into the Atlantic Ocean in the hopes of seeing the famed wreckage of the doomed Titanic. They would have been prepared to see something incredible from the viewpoint of the Titan, the submersible they were travelling in. Instead, the ship's carbon fibre was struggling to uphold against the ocean's enormous pressure, and Titan imploded at supersonic speeds. All five passengers on board were instantly killed. A four-day search and rescue mission took place, with the remainder of what was left of the Titan found on the ocean floor, shredded. Netflix's latest series, Titan: The OceanGate Disaster now looks to explore this tragedy in granular detail, focusing on billionaire Stockton Rush – the man behind the submersible, who also perished onboard his own creation. Here's everything you need to know. The new Netflix documentary looks at the rise of OceanGate, an American company that wanted to launch deep sea tourism. Founded by Stockton Rush and Guillermo Söhnlein in 2009, the company built two submersible vessels – one of which being the infamous Titan. Söhnlein left the company in 2013. Rush, meanwhile, was the charismatic face of the brand. 'There's a huge demand for unique travel experiences,' he said in 2017. 'We will be profitable from the Titanic trips.' Born into a wealthy family, Rush was an American businessman with a taste for adventure. He started scuba diving aged 12 and acquired a pilot's licence when he was 18. He initially thought about being an air force pilot, but was rejected for his eyesight not being good enough. In 2006, after he went on his first submarine excursion, Rush began to toy with the idea of deep sea travel, and hoped to tap into the growing demand for adventure tourism. He wanted to build submersibles that went far deeper under the sea than other commercial submersibles. Speaking to The Independent in 2017, Rush explained: 'Shallow dives equal shallow experience. The commercial subs out there are like a Disneyland ride versus paddling yourself through the Grand Canyon. Knowing you're there changes how you observe it.' Understandably, there are strict regulations for submersible travel, which Rush previously criticised. He once decried the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 as 'needlessly prioritis[ing] passenger safety over commercial innovation'. Rush also spoke passionately about the 'move fast and break things' culture typically attributed to start-ups. At the 2022 GeekWire summit, he told audiences: 'If you're not breaking things, you're not innovating. If you're operating within a known environment, as most submersible manufacturers do, they don't break things. To me, the more stuff you've broken, the more innovative you've been.' Speaking of his former co-founder, Guillermo Söhnlein told Vanity Fair: 'I think [Rush] did see himself in the same vein as these disruptive innovators. Like Thomas Edison, or any of these guys who just found a way of pushing humanity forward for the good of humanity — not necessarily for himself. He didn't need the money. He certainly didn't need to work and spend hundreds of hours on OceanGate. You know, he was doing this to help humanity. At least that's what I think was personally driving him.' The deep-sea vessel, built by OceanGate, was to focus on diving as far as 3,800 meters below sea level to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. What made it different to other submersibles, usually comprised of titanium or steel in order to withstand the extreme levels of external pressure that are attributed to deep-sea diving, was that the Titan had a filament-wound carbon fibre hull. This material made the submersible lighter and more cost effective – but was not as reliable and could fail when too much pressure was applied. Rush was told this by numerous employees and experts in the field, who warned of potential 'catastrophic' issues, but nothing was done to amend the submersible. Titan was also not 'classed', which meant that it did not undergo formal safety inspections or meet the standards of established classification societies. In 2019, OceanGate explained why this was the case. In a press release, the company said: 'Bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.' The submersible was also controlled by a modified video game controller, with the 'pilot' receiving instructions from the surface vessel above through a text-based messaging system. No real training was required before getting on board, with any training needed to take part being provided online. However, those who paid for their seat on the submersible (a princely sum of up to $250,000, or £195,000), were expected to sign a detailed waiver that said that going on the Titan could 'result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death'. Despite numerous warnings, Titan launched in 2021 with its first dive to the Titanic's wreckage. Between 2021 and 2022, the submersible made 23 dives, with 13 of these managing to reach the wreckage. On its final outing, the Titan was just 1600m away from the bow of the Titanic. Onboard the Titan's final voyage on 18 June were: Stockton Rush – 61 – OceanGate CEO Paul-Henri Nargeolet – 77 – deep sea explorer and Titanic expert Hamish Harding – 58 – businessman Shahzada Dawood – 48 – businessman Suleman Dawood – 19 – university student and Dawood's son Originally Christine Dawood was meant to be going on the dive. However, she reportedly gave up her seat for her son, because he expressed an interest in going on the trip. He reportedly took a Rubik's cube on Titan, as he hoped he would be able to break a world record while seeing the wreckage. Rear Admiral John Mauger explained in a press conference after the Titan was found that the wreckage was consistent with a 'catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.' Effectively, the carbon fibre material could not withstand the external pressure of a deep sea dive. When the submersible did not reemerge at its scheduled time, the US coast guard was notified. Titan only had 96 hours of breathable air supply for its five passengers when it set out, which added a time pressure to finding those onboard. Four days later, on 22 June, debris from the Titan submersible was found by the US coast guard, near the Titanic's wreckage. All planned excursions by the company were immediately cancelled, with its main office closed the day the Titan wreckage was found. On 6 July, all business operations were suspended, with OceanGate now only serving as a legal entity. The family of French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against OceanGate in August 2024. The US Coast Guard launched an investigation, which also led to a public hearing in September 2024. During this time, former employees testified saying they warned of the submersible's safety. US court documents show OceanGate's former operations director David Lochridge had significant concerns with the Titan's design, including that it was made from carbon fibre which he warned would damage further with every dive. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster is available to watch on Netflix now Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
U.S. Airline Passengers Get 'Warning' About Personal Information
If you fly with a major U.S. airline this year, the Department of Homeland Security might just have your personal information. Airlines Reporting Corporation, a company that focuses on ticket transaction settlements, has reportedly sold access to customer records information to the Department of Homeland Security and its Customs and Border Protection division. This deal was first reported by Wired. According to Wired, the information that ARC sold includes passengers' names, full itineraries and financial details. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division wants this data to "support federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to identify persons of interest's US domestic air travel ticketing information." "CBP is committed to protecting individuals' privacy during the execution of its mission to protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation's economic prosperity," a CBP spokesperson told Wired. "CBP follows a robust privacy policy as we protect the homeland through the air, land and maritime environments against illegal entry, illicit activity or other threats to national sovereignty and economic security." For what it's worth, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are all shareholders for ARC. "The big airlines—through a shady data broker that they own called ARC—are selling the government bulk access to Americans' sensitive information, revealing where they fly and the credit card they used," U.S. senator Ron Wyden said. "ARC has refused to answer oversight questions from Congress, so I have already contacted the major airlines that own ARC—like Delta, American Airlines, and United—to find out why they gave the green light to sell their customers' data to the government." CBP hasn't released a follow-up statement on this matter. U.S. Airline Passengers Get 'Warning' About Personal Information first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 10, 2025
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Canadian road trips to US drop 38 percent year-on-year
The number of Canadians returning from road trips to the United States fell sharply in May compared to the same period in 2024. Canadian-resident return trips by car totaled 1.3 million, a 38.1 percent drop from May 2024 — marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. by air also fell — by 24.2 percent — compared to May 2024. The decline in Canadian-resident air travel from the U.S. accounts for the overall dip in return air travel. While Canadians' return travel by air declined by 3.7 percent overall, return air travel increased by 9.8 percent among Canadians returning from overseas countries compared to last May. U.S. residents, meanwhile, traveled to Canada at a lower rate than they did last year but saw a more modest decline than their Canadian counterparts. U.S.-resident arrivals to Canada by car fell by 8.4 percent and, by air, fell by 0.3 percent, compared to last May. The decline in Canadian road trips to the U.S. continued a trend seen in prior months. In April 2025, Canadian-resident return trips by car from the U.S. totaled 1.2 million — a 35.2 percent decline from April 2024. Canadian-resident return trips by air fell by 19.9 percent, compared to the prior month. The overall tourism decline threatens to wipe out $12.5 billion from the American economy this year, NewsNation reported. The decline in tourism comes as tensions between the U.S. and Canada have cooled under the Trump administration, as President Trump continues to muse publicly about making Canada a 51st state of America, which Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly rejected as a nonstarter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
