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Here’s how National Park Service cuts are affecting sites in Mass.
As additional funding and employee cuts loom, many worry about the impacts for the years to come.
Rachel Rapier was a museum technician at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site when she got an email on Feb. 14 of termination from her job. So many federal workers got similar notes that day, it was dubbed the “Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
“When I got this job, it was a dream come true,” Rapier told Boston.com.
After years of applying and working at smaller museums, she was finally offered a job at the National Park Service. She was responsible for collection care, pest management, conserving museum objects, and coordinating exhibitions.
However, she was fired only six months into her job, which the Inflation Reduction Act funded. As far as she knows, they have eliminated her position.
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Rapier was one of more than a thousand National Park Service probationary employees laid off in February after being targeted by the new Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk. The email stated that they fired her for poor performance, despite never giving her a review.
“It feels indiscriminate and unfair to everyone because it wasn’t a decision based on my performance,” Rapier said. “It was a decision based on who they could get out easily.”
According to Kristen Sykes, the Northeast Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association, around 40 probationary staff from National Historic Sites from New Jersey to Maine were terminated. Bill Wade, the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, says about ten of those were from Massachusetts sites.
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The Association of National Park Rangers, along with former employees, have reported firings of three people at Cape Cod National Seashore, two at Boston National Historic Park, three at Lowell National Historical Park, one at Minute Man National Park, and one at the Springfield Armory.
Uncertainty, mixed messaging, and talk of further cuts have caused National Park Service employees to be concerned about what will happen to the 16 sites in the Bay State that welcome over 8 million visitors a year.
Wade said many remaining workers are upset about losing friends and colleagues while now covering extra duties to serve visitors and protect historic resources. He added that some are worried they may be next to be laid off after a memo required federal agencies to submit restructuring plans, suggesting potential mass layoffs.
“Morale at the National Park Service right now is the lowest it’s ever been,” said Wade.
Wade said the layoffs occurred when the park was already understaffed, with 20% fewer staff than the Park Service had 15 years ago due to funding not keeping up with inflation.
“The only way that this is all going to get turned around is if the public gets angry enough and concerned enough about what’s happening to their national parks,” said Wade.
Potential impacts to National Historic Parks in Mass.
Nikki Stewart, the executive director of the nonprofit Old North Illuminated, which is affiliated with Boston’s Old North Church Historic Site, says that cutting seasonal employees will result in fewer bathroom locations in Boston and leave no friendly person available to share directions or tell the story behind a historic site.
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“That greatly impacts the experience that people have when they’re visiting Boston, which impacts whether they’re going to come back,” said Stewart. “It impacts how much money they spend. It impacts if they recommend Boston as a destination to all of their friends and family back home.”
Stewart said people come to visit the Old North Church from across the country, from all demographics and political backgrounds.
“I think the National Parks really do exist for all Americans, and not being able to fully staff and operate the National Parks this year would truly be a loss for all Americans,” Stewart said.
According to Sen. Ed Markey’s office, last year, Massachusetts ranked 11th in the country with $1.3 billion in economic contributions from national park visitors and $863 million in direct visitor spending.
“At a time when our parks and historical sites should be getting ready to meet the high-season influx of visitors, President Trump, his billionaire-in-chief Elon Musk, and the unelected, unwanted, and unqualified DOGE minions are instead targeting both National Park Service staff and funding,” Markey said in a statement.
Without enough National Park Service staff, Markey said visitor centers will be closed during the peak tourism season, restrooms will be left dirty, and tours will cease.
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“Not only is this bad for park visitors, it’s bad for everyone who wants to celebrate and learn about our nation’s past and future,” Markey continued.
This is especially true as celebrations get underway in the state for the country’s 250th anniversary, with many key events, like the Paul Revere ride, happening in Massachusetts.
Even though the park service announced it will hire up to 7,700 seasonal positions this year, which is higher than the three-year average, the decision will depend on whether Congress passes a budget this Friday.
After all, David Bernstein, president of the Friends of the Cape National Seashore, said, “if there’s no budget … there’s no money,” and they won’t be able to hire seasonal staff.
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Bernstein said preparing for the busy summer ahead has proven difficult. The federal government has frozen the park’s credit cards, and many seasonal staff, including lifeguards and rangers, are waiting to be hired.
The Cape Cod National Seashore sees nearly 4 million visitors annually, contributing over $538 million to the local economy. But, this year, many parks (including the Seashore) are nervous that they won’t have as many visitors, especially the ones in the north that border Canada, with which President Trump has engaged in a trade war.
Without the typical staff, the park might not be able to offer the same programs, such as kayak and canoe tours, walking tours, and studies of endangered wildlife and fauna.
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“Cape Cod is such a fragile environment,” said Bernstein. “The nervousness is that without people overseeing this fragile environment, we will have big problems over the next 50 years or so, if not longer.”
Employees fired after years of work
Many fired workers had already worked five or more years as seasonal employees, rising through the ranks before being hired full-time.
Others had recently moved to a new job, often in a promotion, and began a new probationary period.
“Every park staff person I’ve talked to who has been fired — this is their dream job,” said Sykes. “They work for years, many of them seasonal positions, many of them willing to move to different locations, including with their families, and moved at great expense to be able to go to the exact location.”
Wade said it is a competitive process, adding that firing without reason is a “cruel and terrible way to treat employees in any organization.”
Rapier moved from Louisiana to make the job work. If they don’t reinstate her soon, she might have to move because she can no longer afford to live here.
“I would love to go back (to my job),” said Rapier. “I enjoyed where I was working. I enjoyed the people I was working with and I enjoy working for the National Park Service and everything that it stands for.”
Editor’s note: The number of cuts at the National Park sites in Massachusetts has been updated.
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