More than 500 people demonstrated outside Flagstaff City Hall Monday in opposition to the Trump administration’s layoffs of thousands of federal workers.
It is still unclear, however, how many workers across northern Arizona have lost their jobs.
Many of the protesters wore hats or shirts sporting logos of federal agencies that have experienced layoffs in recent days.
But Jim Landahl had a piece of duct tape covering his hat with the word “terminated” written in Sharpie. He was among an unknown number of people laid off at Grand Canyon National Park.
“It's more than a job. I care about the Grand Canyon region very deeply — this area in northern Arizona," Landahl says. "I have family out here. And you look at your national parks and it's a natural, wonderful, but it's also a human-driven wonder. It takes people. I was supposed to be in the canyon today to work on a restoration project, for the visitors, for the health of the ecosystem down at the Grand Canyon.”
Landahl says his home in Grand Canyon Village is also tied to his employment meaning he may lose his housing.
He says the layoffs have shaken the small community of mostly national park employees.
“It's sent a shockwave through the town itself. And I think everybody is rallying around this first wave of cuts because people are expecting more. So we're all banding together, and we all are sticking up for our little town,” Landahl says.
Landahl has worked for the park since 2022, but his first full-time position ended Friday when the Trump administration directed multiple federal agencies to lay off all employees in probationary status.
That includes most employees who have entered a new position within the last year or the last two years if they are a veteran or have a disability.
Corina Haines was also at the rally and says multiple generations of her family have worked in the federal government.
She says she always believed she would follow that tradition into federal service, but now she is not so sure.
“I'm scared for my family that works in the federal government. I'm scared for myself as someone who wants to pursue a career with the government, and now I feel like I can't. So, I feel like my whole future has been turned upside down. It's a scary time,” Haines says.
The Coconino and Kaibab National Forests, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency and Indian Health Service have not responded to KNAU’s requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Grand Canyon National Park said they were unable to answer questions.
