COLORADO (KCNC) — Hundreds of protesters gathered in Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday to oppose the recent firings of approximately 1,000 National Park Service and over 3,000 U.S. Forest Service employees nationwide. This comes as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency continue to lay off federal employees to cut federal spending.
The protest is one of 433 at national parks across the country organized by the Resistance Rangers. The rangers called for a nationwide day of action on March 1, encouraging protesters to hand out flyers to cars, put signs in front of webcams, hang banners, hang American flags upside down as a signal of distress, march in gateway towns, rally inside parks and picket around park signs.
The upside down flag has become a popular sign of protest, seen at demonstrations and rallies throughout the country both from those protesting the current administration to supporters of President Donald Trump protesting his felony convictions.
According to their website, the National Park Service Rangers are a “community of 700+ off-duty park rangers rallying to save public lands.”
The rangers encouraged local protesters to meet at 10 a.m. at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Estes Park with protest signs and trash bags to clean up while at the site.
In February, hundreds of protesters gathered at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, carrying signs, chanting “Save our park” and cheering for NPS staff as they passed.
In a previous interview with CBS Colorado, Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall expressed concerns about how the layoffs will not only affect the park but also the communities that rely on them for employment. He said the community’s businesses rely heavily on tourism from the park and he’s concerned about safety risks to park staff and visitors.
“Estes Park is joined at the hip, heart, and soul of Rocky Mountain National Park,” Hall said. “The health of Rocky Mountain National Park is the health of Estes Park to a great degree.”
Hall told CBS Colorado that he’s working with Colorado congressional leadership to advocate for the reinstatement of all Rocky Mountain National Park staff.
Resistance Rangers said those fired included rangers, scientists, wildland firefighters, first responders, trail crews, maintenance crews, and other mission critical staff.
Although the U.S. federal government is the nation’s largest employer, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the federal workforce has grown little since 1980. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said “Most of this recorded spending growth is due to the rising cost of interest payments on the national debt and non-health, non-Social Security mandatory spending.”