Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Layoffs in Utah's National Park Service raise concerns among visitors about park quality.
- Visitors worry federal cuts could impact safety, experiences, and local economies.
- The park service plans to hire seasonal workers to address staffing challenges.
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK — Vast natural beauty is hard to describe, but several hikers on their way to Utah's Delicate Arch this week tried anyway, telling KSL the landscape was "incredible," "awesome" and "gorgeous."
"We're blown away by this place," said Alice Hopton, visiting from Toronto.
KSL's team spent a day talking to visitors who came to Arches National Park from all over the world to see sights like the famed arch. Most said they haven't noticed impacts of layoffs across the National Park Service in Utah just yet. But several said they're concerned about the possible effects of federal cuts after about 1,000 employees were laid off in February.
"The chainsaw to the National Park Service is crazy," said Doug Mander, traveling from Canada with Hopton.
Noah Maier and Lara Ullrech, visiting from Germany, said international headlines have them concerned about the future of the country's national parks.
"We were kind of happy we got here before there are any, maybe, severe things happen(ing)," Maier said.
Colleen McCartney, who traveled from her home in Virginia, agreed.
"It's definitely a fear that places like this won't exist or they'll be understaffed," McCartney said.
KSL took those concerns to the National Park Service. In an email, the agency said it's hiring seasonal workers "as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management."
The park service continued: "We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks."
Hikers aren't the only ones concerned.
While the park service hasn't said how many employees each park lost in the layoffs that hit going into the system's busy season, losing just a few staffers could affect the quality of visitors' experience – and their safety, said Walt Dabney, a superintendent of Arches and Canyonlands from 1991-1999.
If they don't have the staff they need, he said, "the parks are going to get just hammered. The facilities are going to get hammered. It's going to be filthy. People are going to get lost and we can't find them because there's nobody there."
And if travelers decide they're not coming back or spread word of a negative experience, Dabney said communities nearby could lose their economic engine.
"These places are figuratively gold mines if we don't screw them up," Dabney said.
On Thursday, as they hiked down from Delicate Arch, Kelly and Cody Duncan extended their trip from Tennessee to see Utah's five parks in just four days with their 5-month-old daughter in tow. The Duncans said their eyes are on the future.
"It needs to be kept up so the future generation can enjoy it," Kelly Duncan said.
Arches and Canyonlands parks told KSL that March can be a busy time, and visitors should anticipate long lines. Starting in April, parkgoers planning to arrive from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. need to book a timed entry ticket in advance.
