Scores of people, many toting homemade signs, braved the briskly cold weather Saturday afternoon to gather at the Indiana Dunes National Park Visitor Center to protest the loss of park employees.
The event at the Indiana Dunes was one of many planned demonstrations at national parks across the nation, decrying the cuts initiated by the Elon Musk-led effort of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Four employees for the Indiana Dunes National Park recently received notice that they were losing their jobs.
The protesters lined up in the west side parking lot, facing out toward Indiana 49. Much of their anger was directed at President Donald Trump and Musk for the cuts. At its height, there were an estimated 180 people strong on hand.
At the close of the two-hour protest, about 30 people clustered at the stone entrance sign, closer to the road,
On a few occasions, they sang the chorus from the Woody Guthrie standard, “This Land is Your Land.” There were also repeated chants of, “Whose Parks? Our Parks,” “Fire Elon, Fire Trump” and “Hurt the park, you hurt us.”
Erica Sutton of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, said she helped to organize the protest at Indiana Dunes National Park through a posting on Instagram and other social media. Sutton said that many similar protests were planned at the hundreds of national park locations across the country.
“We want to make sure we are not selling out our federal lands, maintaining them for free for the people. Wilderness is a necessity,” Sutton said.
Sutton said that she would regularly venture over to the Indiana Dunes National Park when her children were younger and appreciated the amenities.
Rachel Sobel held the leash of her husky-pit bull mix dog with a coat that stated, “Rescue the Rangers”.
Sobel drove over to the protest from the Chicago area because she was “personally affected by this.” Her husband, who didn’t want his name used, was laid off at the Pullman National Park. He didn’t want to comment because he hopes to get his job back.
Others from Chicago made the drive for the protest. Jessica Bloodgood and Carly Owen were using a magic marker to make their signs in the visitor’s center lobby before the protest began at noon.
“There are not enough essential employees doing essential work on national land. You’ve got to have people to take care of it,” Bloodgood said, regarding the cuts.
Owen said while the cuts hurt Indiana Dunes National Park, they are probably even more devastating for communities surrounding national parks in places like Montana because they are the primary employer.
“The parks are the last piece of land that’s not crappy and built up with strip malls,” Owen said.
Dave Phillips, who lives in Porter and once served on its Town Council, was there with others before the rally began, discussing the effects of the budget cuts on parks.
“The savings is a pittance. We all know that,” Phillips said, noting that ranger salaries are relatively low.
Jennifer Lisac of St. John said that her daughter has worked at a number of national parks, including the last summer as a biologist at Yosemite National Park. She said that most don’t know that before a ranger is hired full-time, they are required to work internships with the National Park Service.
Lisac said she has heard through her daughter that there are parks that will have to close down visitor centers, discontinue tours and eliminate camp reservations.
Lori Checkley and Lisa Checkley are sisters who traveled over from the South Bend/Niles, Michigan area to participate in the protest.
“To do this is just crazy. This is our legacy. This is our kids’ legacy. We owe it to them to protect their jobs and protect our parks,” said Lori Checkley, who held a sign with the legend “Diana of the Dunes vs. MuskRat”.
Others saw the cuts at the national parks as part of a bigger picture.
Mark Urban of Willow Springs, Illinois, said he’s distressed about several things happening.
“The current administration is destroying our country in many different ways and today it’s about what they are doing to destroy our parks,” Urban said.
Paul Kysel of Pine Township had a sign that read “The only immigrants stealing jobs is Elon Musk and his muskrats.” He said that he fears that “democracy is being dismantled before our eyes.”
“The greatest thing maybe to ever happen in the United States was to create the national park system. To think about destroying that is abhorrent,” Kysel said.
Pam Rogalski of Valparaiso was carrying a pole with an upside-down American flag — a sign of distress. She said she’s upset about the parks, and many things going on in the country.
“I’m here today because I love our parks and I know they were already understaffed, and I can’t imagine what is going to happen to them now,” Rogalski said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
