Since the Trump administration’s widespread federal lay-offs last month, Grand Canyon National Park has become a rallying point for terminated employees and those who want to support them.
Protesters have targeted busy weekends to get their message out: that public lands and the well-being of those who manage them are closely connected.
About 60 protesters flank the paths from the parking lot and visitor center to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, catching the eyes of tourists.
Jim Landahl was a biological science technician, part of the team working on the $200 million Transcanyon Waterline project.
"We're here, we're members of the community and we have voices and we work hard to keep their parks running," Landahl says.
Landahl has been helping to organize the rallies after he lost his job on Valentine's Day.
“We’re not just nameless federal workers contributing to waste or abuse or fraud and we just can’t be replaced,” he says.
Two days after he was let go, Landahl got a call from his partner, Lynda Jones, who also lost her job.
She worked 130 miles north at Glen Canyon Recreation Area.
“Working in rural, remote places, you really have to have a deep-rooted community and to have that uprooted in an instant for ‘poor performance,’ through an email — not even having the guts to tell us in person was just... I can't put it into words," Jones says.
Jones says she was among a dozen who lost their jobs at Glen Canyon.
She was six months into her full-time position with the park when the Trump administration ordered agencies to fire probationary employees.
She says it was a difficult day in the office.
“I gave safety programs, I worked with our safety program manager so that way, our employees were safe when they were working out in the field," Jones says. “People were coming in all day explaining their family situation, their financial situation, their housing situation. I was just barely getting by, but I worked eight years to get that job: traveling across the country, packing up my stuff every six months, living apart from my partner, who also got fired."
Both of Jones’ parents served in the military and she says they raised her with a strong respect for public service.
Now she’ll move into Landahl’s house in Grand Canyon Village, but it’s owned by the park and tied to his job.
They don’t know how long they’ll be allowed to stay.
“We definitely have 30 days. They might extend it to 60 days, which would be the hope," Landahl says. "I need to have a job by that time, so I can't just sit unemployed for 60 days. That's not feasible for me."
The National Park Service has not responded to KNAU’s request for comment.
The Trump administration says the layoffs will improve government efficiency.
Critics say they’ve created chaos in agencies and haven’t clearly reduced costs.
According to local officials, at least 10 people at Grand Canyon were among the approximately 1,000 national park employees fired nationwide since February 14.
“I've never seen anything at all like what has happened. It's just kind of a heartless, cruel way to treat employees in any organization, it seems to me," says Bill Wade, executive director of the nonprofit Association of National Park Rangers and the former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park.
Staffing implications
Wade says the cuts come as parks are already understaffed, and the number of full-time employees has fallen 15% in the last decade.
Wade adds that recent events aren't likely to get more people interested in working at parks and reverse those trends.
"You're significantly impacting the next generation of people who are going to be ultimately leaders in the Park Service," Wade says.
The park service has been given the go-ahead to hire more than 7,000 temporary staff for the summer season.
But Wade says getting those employees hired and on-board before the tourist season ramps up may be challenging. And that could leave park officials managing the same number of visitors with far fewer employees than normal.
So far, public safety positions have been mostly exempted from the Trump administration’s cuts, but Wade says they could still be impacted.
“What we know about parks, and Grand Canyon is an example: when somebody has to be carried out of the canyon for instance, it’s not just the rangers that do it. There are maintenance people who are called on to help with that," Wade says. "So even though the rangers might be protected, not necessarily those other people that can augment search and rescue teams and emergency response, because those are auxiliary or supplemental jobs to them."
Economic worries
The implications for staffing at parks also have local leaders worried about the region's economy.
Coconino County Supervisor Patrice Horstman says the tourism that northern Arizona's economy depends on is at risk.
“We want to have a positive tourist experience; we want people to come up here to Northern Arizona and to enjoy our Grand Canyon National Park," Horstman says. "And so we’re concerned about that, if that will have an effect on long lines, the tourist experience, or even have the effect of closing the park as was done in Saguaro on certain days.”
Last month, Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona announced that its two visitor centers would not open on Mondays until further notice.
Sen. Ruben Gallego says he's also concerned the layoffs could have broader implications for the local economy.
He has also been outspoken in his support for terminated federal workers.
“You're firing people from the Grand Canyon, the second most visited national park in the country, as we're going into spring break," Gallego says.
In 2023, Grand Canyon National Park brought in more than 4.7 million visitors, while Glen Canyon recreation area and attractions like Horseshoe Bend saw more than 5.2 million people.
But on some days, wait times at the Grand Canyon’s south entrance have doubled since the terminations.
Gallego says if cuts impact visitors, there will likely be knock-on effects.
"What happens is, eventually people will start hearing from other friends that, 'Wow, it was really backed up at the Grand Canyon. I couldn't get the experience I wanted,'" Gallego says. "And you’re going to start seeing this ripple effect where people start canceling flights or don't book flights. They’ll start canceling hotel rooms. We’ll see our revenues drop at our restaurants, everything else like that. And that's something we really can't have in northern Arizona."
But Gallego says he thinks the protests inside the park have an effect and encourages other fired federal workers to share their stories with the public.
“I actually do think they do make an impact, especially for people that are probably, you know, largely apolitical, just want to spend time with their families. When this is, put in front of them, they realize, how dumb these cuts are," Gallego says.
Meanwhile, government employees could face added stress.
"It's not over yet. We're hearing of more cuts coming down the road," Wade says.
The White House has ordered all federal agencies to submit plans by next week to further reduce their workforce.
And Jones says she's finding ways to stay positive about their situation and her career.
"To see people see the canyon for the first time every day. . . was just something really special," Jones says. "Even though I got fired, the sun is still going to rise, the moon is still going to come up, the birds are still going to migrate."
KNAU Science and Technology Reporter Melissa Sevigny contributed to this report.
