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Joshua Tree National park Employees were notified yesterday via email that could possibly see another round of terminations later this week. A source inside the National Park shared an email send on Tuesday (2/25) with information regarding the Department of Interior announcements, with one of them being possible terminations for staff that were hired under Schedule A and were initially missed during the last round of terminations which eliminated six park ranger positions.
According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Schedule A is a classification for hiring people with severe physical, psychiatric, or intellectual disabilities. It says individuals hired under Schedule A may qualify for conversion to permanent status after two years of satisfactory service.
Schedule A also allows for hiring readers, interpreters, and personal assistants that would be used to provide the employee with disabilities reasonable accommodations.
The source’s email said that there currently isn’t a list of Schedule A employees in Joshua Tree National Park that may be affected by this.
On Saturday, February 22nd, Joshua Tree National Park Employees received Elon Musk’s email demanding a reply with the 5 things they did last week or else they would face termination through resignation. The deadline for the email was Monday, February 24th at 11:59 p.m. and our source inside the park said that many had responded to the email. However as the deadline approached on Monday, the Trump Administration told federal agencies that responding to the email was now considered “voluntary,” adding further confusion to how or if the terminations would continue.
On top of the possible second round of ranger terminations, our source says that the National Park may lose additional employees to the buyout email that was offered to thousands of federal employees, as well as expected reductions due to a ranger retiring.
As spring weather arrives early in the hi-desert, the busy National park is expected to see increased visitor numbers, stressing an already short-staffed fee collection team and crew that keeps the park running smoothly and safely.
Our source in the park says that while the majority of visitors coming through have been supportive of the rangers, some Joshua Tree National park employees have experienced visitors calling them and their jobs “worthless” or “meaningless.” The source says that rangers will continue doing the job they love, despite each day not knowing “what game they’ll have to play to keep it.”
Previously reported:
