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Newsweek
30-05-2025
- Newsweek
National Parks Face 'Lowest Staffing in Modern History' Ahead of Summer
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As summer approaches, the National Park Service is facing what has been described as its "lowest staffing levels in modern history," raising concerns about the agency's ability to manage record-high visitor numbers. Kristen Brengel, the National Parks Conservation Association's senior vice president of government affairs, said in a recent webcast hosted by environmental nonprofit Oregon Wild that "this is probably the lowest staffing in modern history for the park service," according to reporting by California-based news website SFGate. Newsweek has contacted the National Parks Conservation Association and the National Park Service via email for comment. File photo: visitors take in the scenery from Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park, California. File photo: visitors take in the scenery from Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park, California. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP Why It Matters The staffing crisis comes at a time when the country's many national parks are drawing record visitor levels. In 2024, the National Park Service reported a record-high number of people visiting the national parks - at more than 331 million recreational visits. However, federal budget decisions are making it harder for the National Park Service to respond to the increased demand, particularly as it navigates a shortage of staff. What To Know The National Park Service has seen a 20 percent reduction of staff since 2010, and since January it has seen an additional 13 percent decrease in employees, according to the National Parks Conversation Association. The park service has only hired around 3,000 of the promised 7,700 seasonal employees it vowed to take on after its hiring process was frozen and many permanent staff were laid off in February. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating an immediate hiring freeze on the federal government, prohibiting any federal office from hiring new employees until late April. While the president made some seasonal employees exempt from the hiring freeze, the park service is still going "into the heaviest visitation seasons for the parks, and they are completely understaffed with seasonals," Brengel said, according to SFGate. In addition to the staffing challenges, the budget bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month proposed cutting all the remaining Inflation Reduction Act funding for the National Park Service. This included $267 million, which the National Parks Conservation Association said could have supported critical park staffing needs. The association said the funding was "essential" for "national park staffing and greenlighting mining development near Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in the same watershed as Voyageurs National Park." After thousands of park advocates spoke out, the final version of the bill has removed certain provisions, including one which would have seen thousands of acres of land in Utah and Nevada transferred elsewhere. What People Are Saying Daniel Hart, Director of Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the National Park Conservation Association, said in a press release in May on the staffing issues: "As we speak, hundreds of millions of visitors are making their way to America's national parks and nearby communities. And rather than provide support for our overwhelmed park staff, Congress is pushing a bill that will only make matters worse for Americans who not only love their public lands, but pay taxpayer dollars to ensure their protection and care." What Happens Next The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill now heads to the Senate.
San Francisco Chronicle
11-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Has Warriors' Steve Kerr decided how to cover Steph Curry's absence?
Golden State Warriors' head coach Steve Kerr instructs his team during 4th quarter time out in Minnesota Timberwolves' 102-97 win in NBA Western Conference Semifinals' Game 3 at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle Anthony Edwards (5) passes to a teammate between Gary Payton II (0) and Quinten Post (21) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney is fouled by Minnesota Timberwolves' Mike Conley in 4th quarter during Dubs' 102-97 loss in NBA Western Conference Semifinals' Game 3 at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Scott Strazzante/S.F. Chronicle Jaden McDaniels (3) leaps to defend againt Brandin Podziemski (2) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle Gary Payton II (0) puts up a layup in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs at Chase Center in San Francisco., on Saturday, May 10, 2025. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle This could all fall apart in a hurry for the Golden State Warriors. They're down 2-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their second-round playoff series, but Saturday night's down-to-the-wire 102-97 loss shows what this postseason has the potential to become: The Warriors' craziest playoff run in the Steve Kerr era. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They have no business still being in the thick of this series, not with Stephen Curry sidelined. But the Warriors came alive Saturday and seem to believe they can go toe-to-toe with the full-strength T'wolves. Until or unless things go sideways, this is the most interesting spare-parts assembly project since Dr. Frankenstein's lab experiment. The Warriors even led by five with eight minutes to go Saturday, and though they lost, they did not collapse under the weight of reality. No Curry? No problem. OK, that's not true, Curry's absence is a monstrous problem, but the Warriors are tackling it gamely, like a guy who skipped classes all semester and now is confidently chugging Red Bull on his all-nighter before the final. When Curry went down with that hammie in Game 1, Kerr said he would use Game 2 and the day off beefore Game 3 to search for the formula for playing without Curry. He and his staff would go into the lab and tinker with various player rotations/combinations and strategies. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That's a lot of experimenting to do in a very short time. It's a level of mixing-and-matching that a coach and his staff usually do in training camp, not 10 games into the postseason. It's like putting together an IKEA credenza with a 24-second clock ticking. And yet when Kerr was asked after Game 3 how close his team is to finding the 'formula,' he said: 'Really close. I feel good about the way the game went tonight. We just couldn't close it out. Again, give them credit. They made all the plays in the fourth and (Julius) Randle and (Anthony) Edwards really got going, and we just couldn't quite overcome them once we got down. 'But we controlled much of the game. … The formula looks good. We'll have some adjustments to make, but I like the matchup. I like what we're doing.' In Game 2, Kerr seemed to be allocating playing time by pulling random names out of a hat. Saturday's substitution pattern still had a slightly experimental feel early on, then settled into something more orderly. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There's not much margin for error now, so some things seem clear. Jimmy Butler is going to go 43 minutes, minimum. Playoff Jimmy is the real deal, and they'll ride him hard. Jonathan Kuminga is suddenly playing like Kerr has wanted him to play all along, and they'll sink or swim with him. Somehow, some time during the last few days, Kuminga and Butler figured out how to play together effectively, after a half season of futility. Possibly out of the mix until further notice, because the Warriors can't wait for them to get their footing: Quinten Post and Moses Moody. This is not, and won't be, the old Steph Curry Warriors, but so far it's better than New Coke (remember that?). This squad might be a slightly better defensive team without Curry. The offense, instead of flowing gracefully around Curry, depends on a more elemental scheme, basically getting the ball to Butler and running around setting picks. Poetry lite. Different? Good grief. In the first half, the Warriors — the team that revolutionized basketball with 3-point shooting — were 0-for-5 (!) from distance. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Warriors are stripped down to playground pickup-game basics, but there's enough brain power — Butler, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II — to make it kinda sing at times. And that's against a solid defensive club, in the Western Conference semifinals. Professor Kerr and his staff will be tinkering with the formula right up until tipoff Monday in Game 4 at Chase Center, but it's pretty much locked in. They just need to remind their players to never make a mistake, ever, because they can't afford to. 'When (Curry's) not here, there's no room for error,' Butler mansplained. 'You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. ... And then you've got to take the right shots.' We're in new territory here. The Warriors of past playoff runs never dashed out of the tunnel before games with the world wondering who three of the starters would be. They've never had to face extinction without Curry. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But they've never had Playoff Jimmy, or this version of Kuminga. Somehow, so far, the Warriors are no longer the doomed crew defending the Alamo. This is an even battle. If you were hoping for thrills, surprises and suspense, you are not being cheated.
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Two Teams Now Play Their Home Games In Minor-League Ballparks
At the end of 2025 baseball spring training, fans at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay saw ... More new signage for the first time. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) Major-league teams don't usually play home games in minor-league ballparks. But two established ballclubs are doing just that: playing all 81 home games on fields usually occupied by minor-league teams. The facilities – from seating capacity to lighting for night games – are invariably below big-league standards in ways too numerous to mention. In 2025, however, two teams have relocated to smaller ballparks best-suited for meaningless spring training exhibition games or regular-season games between minor-league teams. The Tampa Bay Rays had little choice after Hurricane Milton imploded the fixed roof at Tropicana Field, the St. Petersburg stadium that had been their home since they began life as the Devil Rays, an American League expansion team in 1998. Sacramento's Sutter Health Field is the temporary home of the Athletics while they await completion ... More of their new facility in Las Vegas. (Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) At the same time, the Oakland Athletics – ousted from the Oakland Coliseum when their lease expired – won approval from major-league owners to relocate to Las Vegas, ostensibly for 2028 after completion of their new stadium there. Sacramento emerged as a way station to fill the three-year gap between ballparks. The Rays moved too – from St. Petersburg to Tampa, on the other side of a long causeway, after paying the Yankees $15 million for the right to borrow George M. Steinbrenner Field, where New York holds spring training. Unlike the A's, who are suddenly the only team without a geographic designation in their official name, the Rays hope to stay in their original territory. But that would mean Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg would have to pay an estimated $55 million to repair the roof and restore the 34-year-old stadium. That could take at least a year and maybe longer – if it happens at all. The Rays had agreed to share the cost of a new billion-dollar ballpark in St. Petersburg before Hurricane Milton blew the cover off that deal last October. The remaining options seem to be repairing The Trop or relocating to another city, with Orlando, Nashville, and even Monrtreal mentioned often but Major League Baseball reluctant to lose a likely $2 billion expansion fee from newly-created franchise. Neither of the two teams in limbo figures to recoup much revenue from its new environs. Sutter Health Park, previously occupied by the Sacramento Solons of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, seats 14,000, while Steinbrenner Field holds 11,026. Both are far below the average big-league capacity. Then again, the A's and Rays were bottom-feeders in drawing fans last year. The former ranked last in the majors with an attendance of 922,286, an average of 11,386 per game. Tampa Bay wasn't much better, with Tropicana Field turnstiles admitting 1,337,739, an average of 16,515 per home game. Both ballclubs were hurting for money last year and figure to struggle even more mightily even if they sell out every game. According to Roster Resource, the A's rank last with a projected payroll of $55,690,000, less than half of Tampa Bay's $128,533,112. Playing in an open-air ballpark is another potential problem for the Rays, who were protected from the steady diet of Tampa Bay frequent summer thunderstorms when they played in a domed stadium. Regular rain delays are so certain to be a drag on attendance that Major League Baseball changed its schedule to give the Rays more games early and late in the schedule, swapping several series that had been planned months earlier. Tropicana Field, erstwhile home of the Rays, lies in ruins after Hurricane Milton pounded the Tampa ... More Bay region last fall. (Photo by) The biggest problem the Rays faced was turning Steinbrenner Field from a spring training facility to a major-league ballpark overnight. The Yankees insisted the Rays could change the signage so long as they didn't remove the 600-pound bronze statue of the late George M. Steinbrenner, the iconic owner for whom the field is named. In 72 hours, the Rays had to rebrand the ballpark with more than 3,000 separate pieces of art, according to a report published on SNY, the website of Sports New York. At the same time, the Rays not only put 80 staffers to work on the whirlwind turnaround but also hired outsiders: 50 contractors from five different companies. 'The goal is to have this place feel – when you're walking around, when you're sitting in the seating bowl – to feel like this is the home of the Rays,' Rays chief business officer Bill Walsh told ESPN. Upgraded facilities for players, coaches, and staff were already in the works at Steinbrenner Field, which opened in 1996. Improvements also included a two-story weight room, players' lounge, and kitchen, not to mention broadcast booths. The $50 million cost also included upgrades at an adjacent field for the dislodged Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred revealed. One of the additions is the first tarp in the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, who never needed one when their roof was intact. A new revenue source, it now doubles as a paid advertisement for Budweiser. The 29-seat press box – too small to handle potential post-season coverage – now has hastily-hung photos of Rays players and media guide covers, replacing anything suggesting Yankees or pinstripes. One of the stadium's stores has been restocked with Rays memorabilia. And a large clubhouse light fixture containing a Yankees logo has been covered by a box with Tampa Bay's team insignia. All those changes may surprise the Yankees when they return to Tampa for regular-season games against the Rays. But the most jarring thing they will have to remember is that they are the now visiting team -- dressing in the visitor's clubhouse – even though they are playing in their own stadium. On the opposite coast, the A's have settled into their new digs while keeping an eye on a potential grievance from the Players Association that could delay or reduce their regular revenue-sharing funds. The union could file if it believes the team did not spend enough on players – an issue the Athletics say they solved by handing out three of the four largest contracts in team history. Luis Severino got three years at $67 million, a figure larger than the entire 2024 A's payroll, while Jose Leclerc got a one-year, $10 million deal and Gio Urshela signed for one year and $2.15 million. Both T.J. McFarland and Luis Urias also signed one-year deals for more than $1 million each, bringing the A's off-season spending to $40.05 million. That included extensions for Lawrence Butler (seven years, $65.5 million) and Brent Rooker (five years, $60 million). The A's also acquired starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs from Tampa Bay. Fans will find in-stadium improvements at the Legacy Club, which features a private balcony and 15-foot televisions; the Gilt-Edge Club, an open-air shaded lounge with a build-your-own-hot-dog station; and the Solon Club, another shaded outside venue with views of the Sacramento skyline. It has a rotating menu of ballpark food favorites. Although the A's started this season in Seattle, the Rays opened at Steinbrenner Field Saturday, drawing a near-capacity 10,046 for their first official game there. They lost to Colorado, 2-1.
