Two national organizations that support federal park rangers are urging the Trump administration to reinstate hundreds of probationary employees fired last month.
Leaders of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and the Association of National Park Rangers said in a letter Monday to Jessica Bowron, acting director of the National Park Service, that restoring positions eliminated in a recent purge of federal employees would help repair public trust in the Trump administration.
The request follows interim decisions by a federal labor board and a federal judge that the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of recently hired or promoted employees were likely unlawful.
“We appeal to you, in the strongest terms, to initiate action to reinstate all of those employees who were the victims of the illegal firing,” wrote coalition Chair Phil Francis and association President Rick Mossman. “Not only would this be the fair thing to do for the employees themselves, but it would eliminate the impacts to park visitors and NPS programs that would result from these firings.”
