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Potemkin Parks and the Future of Public Lands

The numbers are staggering. Over the last 6-months, the nation’s public land agencies, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, have lost thousands of employees, ranging from brand new hires to senior executives. Among those hardest hit are staff working “behind the scenes,” including architects, archaeologists, grant administrators, historians, wildlife biologists, and climate scientists; professionals who have dedicated their lives to the care of public lands. Following several rounds of lay-offs, retirements, and buy-outs, what’s left is only a semblance of the workforce needed to adequately maintain, interpret, and protect sites as diverse as the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Key West National Wildlife Refuge in Florida and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California. Leadership is being judged primarily on keeping the doors to sites open, with little consideration given to the long term impacts of staff departures.

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Potemkin Parks and the Future of Public Lands

The numbers are staggering. Over the last 6-months, the nation’s public land agencies, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management, have lost thousands of employees, ranging from brand new hires to senior executives. Among those hardest hit are staff working “behind the scenes,” including architects, archaeologists, grant administrators, historians, wildlife biologists, and climate scientists; professionals who have dedicated their lives to the care of public lands. Following several rounds of lay-offs, retirements, and buy-outs, what’s left is only a semblance of the workforce needed to adequately maintain, interpret, and protect sites as diverse as the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Key West National Wildlife Refuge in Florida and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California. Leadership is being judged primarily on keeping the doors to sites open, with little consideration given to the long term impacts of staff departures.

Read More »