The Porter Town Council has joined other communities and organizations from around the nation in an appeal to reinstate National Park Service employees.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to add its signature to a letter from the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent nonpartisan agency, that asks Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to restore employees slashed earlier this year by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Indiana Dunes National Park lost four employees earlier this year through the DOGE reductions.
Councilman James Burge, I-2nd, who noted that all the council members received the email from the National Parks Conservation Association, asked if the council wanted to add its support to the letter.
Council President Laura Madigan, D-1st, noted how the letter pointed out the DOGE cuts have made it difficult for the national parks to “adequately deal with public safety.”
Crystal Davis, a senior regional director, in her letter to Porter Town officials, said that the National Park Service and other federal land agencies are facing “an unprecedented staffing crisis.”
Davis mentioned the Indiana Dunes National Park and Pullman National Park in Chicago as locations that have already seen the impact on visitor services, public safety and resource protection.
“The crisis threatens not only the quality of visitor experiences but also local economies and the long-term preservation of our national parks and public lands,” Davis said.
More than 80 governmental bodies, organizations and individuals from Alaska to Massachusetts and everywhere in between have signed the appeal.
The letter to Burgum notes that 433 national park units make up the National Park system, which is an integral part of the country’s shared legacy and vital to the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy.
In addition to the National Park Service, there were also mass firings, deferred resignations, buyouts and early retirements under duress of employees in the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey and USDA Forest Service.
“While we support efficiencies in federal land questions, these extreme staffing reductions have been made without regard to the agencies’ ability to carry out their mandates as stewards of our public lands,” the letter says.
“These public servants protect critical resources, make parks and other public lands safe, educate the public about these spectacular places, and orient visitors to improve their experiences. The loss of staff will have devastating effects on the protection and management of these lands and marine areas and could cause economic hardship to our communities.”
The letter states that now isn’t the time to continue the hiring freeze or to enact staff reductions.
“Staffing cuts will translate to significant loss of institutional knowledge and could leave parks and other popular destinations unable to handle emergencies, welcome visitors, or safeguard irreplaceable cultural sites, wild landscapes and marine habitats,” the letter says.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
