MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Staffing reductions are impacting Florida’s national parks.
Visitors from across the country, like Teague Tevitt from Wisconsin and Mark Eberhardt from Indianapolis, make the trip to experience Everglades National Park.
“We have an 11-year-old son who wants to see some gators,” said Tevitt.
“We flew down to Miami and have been traveling all the different keys and all the different areas, taking it all in,” said Eberhardt.
Visitors are hopeful that federal funding and staffing cuts don’t cut into our nation’s treasures and pristine public land.
“We visit a few national parks all throughout the United States,” said Eberhardt. “I get a little concerned but I think they will take care of the parks. I think it is part of the nature of America to keep what we have and it is an asset so I hope they keep it in the budgets. I am not too worried about it.”
Added Tevitt: “I think it is a very concerning time to be cutting vital resources from our parks and the people who enjoy the parks.”
The Association of National Park Rangers confirmed several national parks in Florida have already been hit with staffing reductions this month, to include one position at Big Cypress National Park, three at Biscayne National Park and 12 positions at Everglades National Park.
“This creates real problems for real people and real resources too are at risk,” said Tevitt.
The Friday before inauguration, to reduce wildfire risk, the National Park Service announced a prescribed fire project scheduled to begin late January, in partnership with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The South Florida project it said would aid in ecosystem restoration, improve firefighter and public safety.
Two weeks ago a post on X said park rangers at Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve have decided to postpone.
EDITED 2/12/25: Park mangers at Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve have made a determination to postpone the Boundary Rx Burn Project at this time. We will re-announce when the project resumes.
— Everglades National Park (@EvergladesNPS) February 12, 2025
A National Park Service employee told Local 10 News one consideration, weather conditions, concerned tribal member Betty Osceola.
Another employee said funding, that the postponement was in part due to federal budget cuts, stated Osceola, who added that as an everglades advocate, it is frustrating to see an important environmental and in this case public safety project possibly caught in the crossfire.
“It is really a shame,” said Tevitt. “If you want to cut things you should do with a scalpel and not a chainsaw.”
Local 10 News has reached out to the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, but only the NPS responded as of the time of this story’s publication. Its statement is below:
No parks are expected to be closed due to staffing. The National Park Service is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks. As always, visitors should the Parks website to ensure there are not adverse weather conditions traffic congestion, etc. that would impact their trip.
Prescribed burns are continuing for DOI.
J. Elizabeth Peace, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
ADDITIONAL INFO
- According to a NPS January 17, 2025 news release: “The project aims to reduce hazardous fuel accumulations, create a critical fire break on the south side of the Miccosukee Reserved Area to protect the Tribal Community from wildfire, enhance landscape resiliency, aid in ecosystem restoration, protect cultural values and improve firefighter and public safety.”
- “In one case, the freeze to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding, combined with orders limiting travel by some federal employees, forced the National Park Service to cancel a massive prescribed burn scheduled for January and February in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, ProPublica has confirmed. Prescribed burns help prevent catastrophic wildfires by clearing vegetation that serves as fuel, and the meticulously planned 151,434-acre Florida fire — to cover more than six times the land area of nearby Miami — was also meant to protect a Native American reservation and improve ecological biodiversity.”