The National Park Service is entering uncharted territory. 🌲 President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly fired 1,000 employees from the agency last week, accounting for about 5 percent of its workforce. The park service has long struggled with declining employment even before the mass cuts, but the sudden purge is unlike anything seen before. The number of federal employees lost overnight is equivalent to the total drop in workers over the past decade. From January 2014 to January 2023, the number of full-time employees working for the agency fell from 19,894 to 18,864 — a decrease of 1,030 — according to the most recent data from the National Parks Conservation Association. “The loss is crushing,” says Tracy Coppola, Colorado senior program manager of the conservation association. “Parks were already suffering. ...What more can they take?” With 1,000 fewer employees, Coppola says park visitors could soon see less maintenance of public lands, long lines, dirty or closed bath...