Supporters of the National Park Service say the agency has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent staff across the nation since President Donald Trump took office in January.
The National Parks Conservation Association says it conducted an analysis of Park Service staffing and found a 24% loss in the agency’s permanent employees this year.
"Those are going to be folks who were terminated or laid off for various indiscriminate reasons. And it includes people who opted to take early retirement," said Cassidy Jones with the organization.
"So it’s all of these things that the administration has placed in front of National Park Service and other federal employees to reduce the federal workforce," she said.
Seasonal employees, who perform many of the base visitor services like search and rescue and interpretation, are reduced by nearly half this year. Normally, there’d be 8,000. Jones says now it’s 4,500.
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Amid public sector and SNAP cuts along with higher gas prices and lessening affordability here, The Show checked in with Carla Vargas Jasa, president and CEO of Valley of the Sun United Way. -
The declines were felt across the Mountain West. In Idaho, SNAP participation fell nearly 8%. Nevada saw a drop of more than 14%. In Arizona, participation fell by nearly 34%. New Mexico saw a decrease of about 6%, while Wyoming dropped by more than 11%. -
Arizona has now dropped more than 450,000 people from the SNAP program since federal changes went into effect last July. That includes 196,000 children no longer receiving benefits. -
A report from a consumer advocacy organization warns that hundreds of hospitals across the country are at risk of closure or reduced services — including eight in Arizona. -
There’ve been efforts over the years in Arizona to transfer ownership — and control — of federal land to the state. Oftentimes, that’s due at least in part to lawmakers’ not being happy with federal plans for that land.
