Imagine there is one group of people tasked with protecting something precious. Imagine that precious thing is something that benefits all of us. Now imagine that the greatest threat to that precious thing comes from the employers of the group that protects it. How do you think those protectors would be treated by their bosses?
That is exactly what is happening now with public lands in the United States. The federal employees who are tasked with protecting America’s public lands for the benefit of all Americans are under attack from their own government’s leaders. These workers are protecting something that all Americans benefit from financially, recreationally, culturally, environmentally, or in other ways.
But the greatest threat right now to America’s public lands is coming from America’s own leaders. Our government is currently overseen by the super-rich and their advocates, people who do their bidding. And the super-rich want to plunder America’s public lands.
They want to build casinos and resorts and theme parks in America’s public lands. They want to log and mine and frack our public lands. The super-rich want to take our public lands and build their own lawless company towns, where they can do whatever they want without consequence.
And these are the people calling the shots at the highest levels of American government.
The cruelty being displayed to federal workers, including and especially those who oversee our public lands, is intentional. The government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025 is as of this writing keeping many of our public land protectors from doing their jobs and all of them from getting paid–that is intentional. The Trump Administration is floating the idea of not giving these workers backpay for their furloughed time–another intentional cruelty.
The cruelty is the point. They are trying to make these workers quit. They are trying to make working conditions for public land protectors so terrible that they have no choice but to quit.
And many of them already have. Since Trump took office in January 2025, almost a quarter of all permanent (meaning non-seasonal) employees have left the National Park Service, either through firings or forced resignations. Thousands of US Forest Service staff have also been fired, which has slowed wildfire response and other protections for public lands and nearby communities. Similar staffing cuts are being seen across US federal agencies that oversee public lands, and the Trump Administration has begun mass layoffs across the rest of the federal government.
America’s public lands are hemorrhaging staff, just as the Trump Administration wants.
There are fewer and fewer people working to protect our public lands from within our government, but that doesn’t mean our public lands are without advocates. Organizations like the National Park Conservation Association, a non-profit which lobbies Congress on behalf of national parks, are fighting back and trying to protect public lands and their employees.
And so are everyday Americans. Though the Administration intentionally shortened the time allotted for public comments in their attempt to eliminate the Roadless Rule (which protects wilderness in US Forest Service lands), the American people still left over 200,000 comments, over 99% of which were in support of retaining the rule.
America’s public lands are popular, and we the people are fighting to protect them. I for one (a former national park ranger myself) am tremendously heartened and hopeful after seeing the public outcries on behalf of our public lands. We have a lot more collective power than we realize.
But we need to fight to protect our federal workers too. They deserve so much better than this.
Inspired to support America’s public lands? Here are five ways you can help.