Established in 1924, the Chiricahua National Monument is up for redesignation to national park status. The monument could become Arizona's fourth national park.
Bradley Harmon received the call that he had lost his dream job with the National Park Service (NPS), one of many layoffs that sent shockwaves through Southern Arizona.
“I had about two months left on my probationary period and on every evaluation, ‘exceeds expectations’ and still got the ax,” Harmon said.
He was a trail maintenance worker at Chiricahua National Monument, a park outside of Willcox, Arizona, known for its rhyolite rock pinnacles formations, or hoodoos.
Harmon was one of 1000 NPS employees laid off, along with 800 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees and 400 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees.
The day before, about 3,400 employees with the U.S. Forest Service were also let go.
After weeks of waiting for something to happen, the news came as a relief.
“There was so much anxiety for something like this to happen and my mental health was suffering,” Harmon said. “I wasn’t eating and it was tough so when I got the call that I have my answer, I’m fired, then that unfortunately eased it.”
For many former NPS employees like Harmon, this work is all they’ve ever known.
Many have spent years pursuing careers in conservation, with the ultimate goal of landing a full-time job with the Park Service.
Typically, probationary periods last one to two years, before employees can be brought on permanently.
“It was the very beginning of my career,” Harmon said. “I had finally taken the step to get my dream job with the Park Service and within my first year…it ended.”
He added that he had dedicated seven years to conservation work with nonprofits.
“I don’t have a backup plan and very likely not going to be able to continue my career for a little while so that kind of sucks,” Harmon said.
Harmon’s friend Drew Jackson, a trails worker at Chiricahua, still has a job– for now.
He’s worked for the NPS for nearly 15 years but doesn’t know what’s next.
“I have a seasonal position, so at the end of that season in May, I’m definitely done and with the hiring freezes there’s not really a chance for me to come back, and who knows, I could be fired before then,” Jackson said.
VIEW LARGER Drew Jackson and Bradley Harmon standing in downtown Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2025. Harmon was one of the 1000 National Park Service employees who were laid off on Friday. Sanober Mirza, Arizona Program Manager with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) said uncertainty still looms over seasonal employees.
“There are some exemptions for seasonal positions that will help the situation, but at the same time, simultaneously, 1000 NPS employees were just fired and terminated,” Mirza said.
The NPCA reported that the Interior would exempt 5,000 seasonal positions under the hiring freeze.
“Nobody knows whether their last day has already happened or next week, they’re going to get an email saying that they’re let go, really for no reason,” Jackson said.
Mirza said even losing just a few key staff members can have major consequences.
“There are cases where key positions have been lost, interns now who don’t have supervisors, staff that were working on projects that were halfway done, slowly funded by the government, now those projects won’t be completed,” Mirza said.
The cuts are part of President Trump’s plan to reduce federal spending through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run by Elon Musk
However, these cuts to federal employees come just ahead of the busy season during the spring and summer months, when national parks and other federal lands see a surge in tourists.
Jackson disagrees with the motives behind the layoffs.
“With already a quarter of my work crew being fired and two of us not being able to come back after a few months, the job’s not going to get done,” Jackson said.
Mirza said for those who work in the NPS, it’s not about the money – it’s a way of life.
“In 2023, Arizona had close to 11 million visitors in our national parks, spending about $1.2 billion in Arizona’s gateway communities,” Mirza said. “There is an economic incentive to support our park staff, to support our national parks because they are part of our communities.”
“Without us, these natural areas are going to start dwindling and getting nasty and you’re not going to access them,” Harmon said. “For me, hiking is a big help for the mental health and if people aren’t able to do that I know that’s going to suffer for a lot of Americans out here.”
Mirza warned that visitors’ park experiences will be jeopardized, due to poorer facilities, more trash, longer wait times, fewer staff to keep visitors safe, and less community engagement.
There are 22 national park sites in Arizona.
“Everything I’ve read in Project 2025 confirms for me that it’s all going to change and it’s not going to be as pristine and as beautiful and it’s not going to be about preservation, it’s going to be about cultivation,” Harmon said.
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