At Yosemite, Rangers Are Scarce and Visitors Have Gone Wild [View all]

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/us/politics/yosemite-national-park-california-staffing-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F1A.hfnK.JGty78oX1qLC&smid=url-share

For decades, visitors to Yosemite National Park have been greeted by green- and khaki-clad rangers, who collect fees and guard the park’s entrance.

But on a chilly morning in December, there were no rangers at the park gates. Tourists descended into the majestic wilderness for free, confused by their apparent good fortune.

In fact, ranger sightings were too rare last year, according to park regulars and advocates. Visitors were far less supervised than they normally were, which had led to the wrong kind of wildness — littering, cliff jumping, drone-flying.


This is Yosemite under President Trump.

Over the past year, Mr. Trump has upended the agency that oversees Yosemite, the National Park Service.

-----

Currently, employees are keeping the park running day to day, but that isn’t enough — and it can’t last forever, said Don Neubacher, who was superintendent of Yosemite from 2010 to 2016.

“It’s not like you’re talking about some city park,” he said. “You’re talking about nature’s greatest gifts — it’s a dire time.”