Being a wildlife biologist at Bryce Canyon National Park wasn’t always glamorous work.
But Macie Monahan loved it.
“I wasn't slacking off and wasting taxpayer money. I was out in the field for 10 hours a day,” she said. “I was working in unstable weather conditions, or I was getting down and dirty with some prairie dogs.”
That was her job until Valentine’s Day — the day she and an estimated 1,000 other National Park Service workers got notice that they had been fired. It was one piece of a broader effort by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to downsize the federal government. Thousands of jobs have been slashed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, even as court challenges swirl over the legality of the administration’s actions.
“Until my last breath at the park — in terms of my job at Bryce Canyon — I was working,” she said. “I was emailing and setting up meetings for the following week to continue my work. That's all I could do.”
As Bryce Canyon’s only permanent biologist, Monahan studied some of the park’s 150-plus species of mammals and birds, made sure park projects complied with federal law and led visitor education programs, such as Utah Prairie Dog Day and the Christmas Bird Count.
The park was already understaffed compared to its nearly 2.5 million annual visitors, she said, so rangers often worked beyond their job descriptions. Her duties overlapped with everything from the shuttle system to water lines and trash management.
Monahan and many of the other fired workers were probationary, meaning they were new to their agency or had recently started new roles. A Jan. 20 memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management instructed federal agencies to compile a list of probationary employees and noted that these workers could be fired without triggering their right to appeal the termination to an independent agency.
In Monahan’s case, her probation lasted one year from the date she was hired. Even though she began at Bryce Canyon as a seasonal employee in 2022, she didn’t move into a permanent job until February 2024. The email that told her she was losing her job said it was because of poor performance, even though her past reviews had been positive.
“When I got removed from my position illegally, I was 10 days away from being off my probationary period,” she said.
“That hurt, and it hurt a lot of people. Because it's not just me, it's everyone being affected by this.”
Dalton Western and his partner moved to southwest Utah in the spring of 2024 so she could become a ranger at Zion National Park. They were planning to settle down for at least a few years there. Now, he’s worried they may not be able to stay.
Even though Western found a good job nearby, the area’s high cost of living could make it hard for them to get by on just his income alone.
“It's just absolutely heartbreaking,” he said. “All our plans are in disarray right now.”
For now, they’re waiting to see how things shake out in the courts. Western views the temporary restraining order granted by a California federal judge on Feb. 27 as a promising sign, but he’s cautious about getting too hopeful.
“Who knows if people will be able to get their jobs back,” he asked. Even if they do, he worries they may be fired again in the coming months.
Like Monahan, it was a long path with multiple internships and temporary stints at other agencies before Western’s partner landed her first permanent role at Zion. He said it was the culmination of years of education and effort.
“When I got the call that she got the job offer, it was as excited as I've ever heard her,” Western said. “She was so thrilled to be working with the park and making a difference, having a lasting impact. And it was obviously taken away all of a sudden.”
With the busy season approaching, it’s likely park tourists will start to feel the impacts of reduced staffing, said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers. This spring, he wouldn’t be surprised to see shorter hours at visitor centers, dirtier bathrooms and fewer ranger-led programs.
“When you use a broad sword instead of a scalpel to go through 1,000 positions and indiscriminately terminate them without looking at what those impacts are,” Wade said, “I just don't see that as being the efficient way to do things.”
By his count, at least 20 rangers have been fired from Utah’s national parks — approximately 12 at Zion, two at Bryce Canyon, three at Capitol Reef and three from the southeast Utah group of parks that includes Arches and Canyonlands. So far.
“We're not sure that all of the downsizing is even completed,” he said. “There's a lot of confusion.”
A federal memo on Feb. 26 laid the groundwork for potentially expanding job cuts to additional workers beyond those who are on probationary status.
The park service has permission to hire a larger number of temporary seasonal staff than in previous years. But between the paperwork, training and everything else needed to get those workers up to speed, Wade said “it's unlikely that all of those seasonals are going to be hired and on board before the heavy use season actually gets underway.”
The number of people who visit Utah’s national parks ramps up quickly in the early spring, according to park service data. In 2024, Zion visitation jumped from 144,218 people in February to 417,071 people in March.
If the cuts are long-term, Wade said it could impact national parks far beyond their visitor hours and bathrooms. One way is a loss of institutional knowledge, as permanent workers often train seasonals, for instance. Probationary employees also represent the next generation who would eventually move into park management positions, he said, so their loss could leave an even bigger gap when current supervisors exit.
It could also influence how young Americans view a potential career in the parks.
“What does all this do to the reputation of the Park Service as a hiring entity?” Wade asked.
Still, Monahan has not given up on the idea of returning to her work as a ranger.
For now, she’s looking to continue her education. But if another opportunity comes up, she’d seize it. She’s just not sure when that might happen.
“I still love public lands,” Monahan said. “And I hope and pray we can get back to what we were doing before, eventually.”
