How the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is Adapting to Layoffs and the Federal Shutdown

Kent, Ohio – Cuyahoga Valley National Park, or CVNP, is confronting major staffing shortages and stalled public services after federal layoffs and a nationwide government shutdown this fall.

Before the shutdown in October, the federal government was already reducing jobs, including positions within the park. Some affected positions can include park rangers, safety dispatchers, education instructors and even custodians. 

 

The National Park Service, or NPS, was asked to eliminateapproximately 1,000 jobs throughout the nation. Cuyahoga Valley lost a biologist, a maintenance worker, and a planner. Seasonal jobs may also decline this year, reducing the number of available positions compared to previous years.

“The money that our government puts toward those kinds of public services [National Park Services] has steadily been dropping since the ‘80s. There are a few ups and downs, but with the current administration, who are pretty active in trying to shrink the size of the government, one way to do that is to reduce funding for a different government service,” said Andrew Lepp, a recreation, park and tourism management professor, at Kent State University. 

With the recent government shutdown, park operations with the national park have become even more complicated. With the establishment of NPS and CVNP being government-owned entities, once a shutdown is commenced, that also means that the parks are too. 

Almost all National Park employees have been furloughed, temporarily suspended, and any work is halted immediately. The only positions that are still working were deemed very essential staff, including minimal safety dispatchers and park rangers.

 

However, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is unique. They cannot swing their gates close and be inaccessible to the public. Their parking lots remain open and paths can be hiked through. 

All of their trails and nature are open, but they can quickly become inaccessible. With limited staffing, maintenance lapses, and restroom facilities go uncleaned and unusable. Buildings such as the Boston Mill Visitor Center close entirely, and volunteer programs are suspended.

 

“The thing getting the most impacted with the shutdown are visitor services,” said Audrey Houseman, Marketing and Communications Director of the Conservancy for CVNP. 

 

One area not directly impacted by the shutdown is affiliated nonprofits, such as the Conservancy. These organizations support CVNP by taking care of the park land and providing educational and recreational experiences for visitors. 

 

While they were not able to speak directly for the park, they were able to give their own insights on the recent events the CVNP has been facing. 

 

According to Houseman, “Really anything that makes the National Park a really engaging and fun place to be, aside from the trails, is closed. We had to cancel, on behalf of the park, a large event of over 500 people right at the beginning of the shutdown. These are programs that the public rely on the National Park Service to implement.”

 

Some shutdown consequences could be long-lasting. 

 

“So, one thing that I would flag for impacts are more long term impacts that we don’t know yet. We were in the midst of getting thousands of trees into the ground at the site and that project had to cease immediately. We had volunteers lined up to help because October’s one of our busiest months of the year for tree planting. So, I think in the next few years we are going to start feeling the long term effects, ” Kimberly LoVano, the Community Engagement Director of the Conservancy for CVNP added.

 

As CVNP moves forward, adapting will be essential. 

 

“We’re trying to figure out what [park protection] might look like and how we can advocate for that. If this is the way that Congress works is by having shutdowns on an annual basis, parks can’t operate like this, staff can’t operate like this,” LoVano continued. 

 

Despite the uncertainty, some remain hopeful. 

 

“I think the future for the parks is fine. Although there’s going to be temporary setbacks from time to time — I can feel that we’re in one right now —, but we can come out. There are so many people that love the parks, Democrats and Republicans. So, I feel optimistic,” Lepp concluded.