Article Text

Visitors packed Great Falls Park for hiking, picnics and Potomac River views on March 22, 2025, while a few dozen demonstrators gathered near the visitor center to warn that federal staffing cuts could threaten the park’s future.

The “Protect Our Parks” rally drew Northern Virginia residents concerned about the Trump administration’s dismissal of National Park Service employees and its push to expand resource extraction on public lands.

“I want to support the employees of the National Park Service,” local resident Jim Bierman said. “They’re important to us, and they’re being let go illegally.”

Bierman, a frequent park visitor and the father of Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, said preserving the country’s natural spaces and keeping them accessible should remain a federal priority.

Demonstrators carried signs thanking park employees and calling for public lands to remain under public ownership.

Northern Virginia resident Evangelia said she learned about the event on social media and attended to support the workers who protect parks and keep them safe and accessible.

“They mean a lot to me, and they mean a lot to other people,” she said.

The Great Falls gathering was part of a nationwide day of rallies organized by Resistance Rangers, a grassroots organization of more than 800 off-duty, former and retired park rangers.

The group formed in response to federal layoffs and policy changes, including the Feb. 14 dismissal of an estimated 1,000 probationary National Park Service employees who had recently been hired or promoted.

The local effects of the broader federal downsizing remain uncertain. However, the February dismissals included Great Falls employees, and four George Washington Memorial Parkway rangers were let go in early March, according to rally organizer Henrik Sundqvist, an Arlington resident and artist.

Federal judges ruled March 13 that the Office of Personnel Management lacked the authority to direct the mass terminations. The judges also found that the firings violated legal requirements, including a rule calling for at least 60 days of advance notice, and ordered the employees reinstated.

The National Park Service subsequently indicated that it would offer the dismissed workers their jobs back. The administration appealed one of the rulings to the U.S. Supreme Court on March 24, however, while federal departments faced an April 14 deadline to submit plans for substantial workforce and budget reductions.

The Interior Department was reportedly seeking a 30% reduction in the Park Service’s payroll budget. It also offered severance payments as recently as March 17 to employees willing to leave during the spring.

The National Parks Conservation Association welcomed the reinstatements but said it remained concerned about buyouts and other efforts to reduce staffing. The nonprofit vowed to oppose additional layoffs, including any that might emerge from a forthcoming reduction-in-force plan.

Fewer workers could strain summer operations

With the busy summer season approaching, rally participants said further cuts could leave remaining employees struggling to maintain facilities, manage crowds, rescue visitors and protect natural resources.

An anonymous Manassas resident who attended the rally said experienced workers are especially important in places such as Great Falls and Shenandoah National Park, where rugged terrain and other hazards can prove deadly.

Swimming is prohibited at Great Falls, and a warning near an overlook says an average of seven people drown each year in that portion of the Potomac. One person died there in May 2024.

“People die in Shenandoah when they get lost,” the Manassas resident said. “It’s a difficult terrain to navigate, and we need experienced people to do those jobs.”

Paul, a Great Falls volunteer with the invasive-plant removal program Weed Warriors, said the Park Service needs more employees, volunteers and program funding rather than fewer.

Some consequences of reduced staffing could quickly become visible, including overgrown areas or fallen trees blocking trails. Others, such as delayed erosion-control work or unreliable wildlife counts, might take longer to detect.

Paul said accurate monitoring of bird populations and other environmental conditions requires workers with extensive knowledge and experience. Without access to details about park operations, visitors might not immediately recognize what is being neglected.

Organizers also target extraction policies

The demonstrators also sought to highlight administration policies that they believe could harm public lands.

Since returning to office Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders intended to increase oil and natural gas drilling, logging and mineral mining on federal property. Those efforts include speeding up permits and selling some parcels to private bidders.

Sundqvist argued that timber cutting and fossil-fuel extraction can damage ecosystems beyond the precise boundaries where the work occurs because wildlife moves freely across those lines.

The administration has also proposed rolling back environmental protections designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions and air and water pollution.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has presented the changes as a way to lower costs for businesses and families. Former EPA administrators and public-health specialists have countered that the resulting health and climate damage could ultimately cost more than enforcing the regulations.

Cheri Conca, a conservation program manager with the Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter, said public parks give people access to nature even when they lack nearby green space at home.

The Sierra Club provided support for the Resistance Rangers events after joining other environmental organizations in a February lawsuit challenging the administration’s effort to expand offshore oil drilling.

“We’re standing with them,” Conca said. “If it means coming out here with a sign, that’s doing something. We have to do something.”

Sundqvist said his own attachment to national parks includes watching the Hale-Bopp comet cross the sky above Texas’ Big Bend National Park in 1997. He became a Resistance Rangers community organizer to defend a cause he values and advocate for working rangers who may fear retaliation if they speak publicly.

Organizers hope to collaborate with additional groups and draw more attention to future events. The next rally was tentatively expected to coincide with Earth Day on April 22.

“This protest today came by quickly, but we’re hoping to build a movement around national parks,” Sundqvist said.