Targeting DOGE, labor group puts up billboards warning of heat deaths at national parks

NBC News

01-06-2025

LAS VEGAS — On West Bonanza Road near Martin Luther King Boulevard, not far from the glittering casino lights of the Strip, motorists pass a dire message for the upcoming summer tourism season.
A billboard mimicking a postcard from one of the most extreme places on the continent reads: 'Greetings from Death Valley National Park,' before a more sinister warning: 'Heat deaths rise. Safety staff cut. Made possible by D.O.G.E.'
It's one of around 300 billboards placed across Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida by More Perfect Union, a nonprofit labor advocacy organization seeking to bring attention to staffing cuts brought on by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
The National Parks Conservation Association, an independent advocacy organization, estimates that around 2,500 employees — roughly 13% of the National Park Service's staff — took buyouts or accepted early retirements or deferred resignations as part of DOGE's efforts to significantly slash the size of the federal government.
There are concerns that deep cuts across the National Park Service could jeopardize public safety.
'In far-flung places like Death Valley, park rangers are there to help maintain your safety,' said Faiz Shakir, More Perfect Union's founder and executive director. 'If you pass out from heat exhaustion, they're the ones making sure you're taken care of.'
In Nevada alone, 19 billboards are on display in Las Vegas and Reno, highlighting the public safety risk of heat-related illness and death for park visitors this summer.
Death Valley National Park extends from eastern California to Nevada and is about a 2.5-hour drive from Las Vegas. The area is often known as the hottest place in North America, with temperatures often reaching 130 degrees Fahrenheit or higher in the summer.