(NewsNation) — When Mikayla Moors got the news she was hired as a National Park Service ranger, she cried. Her dreams came true, she said.
That dream came to an end when she was recently let go from her job as part of the sweeping layoffs issued by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
National parks are cutting hours and limiting services due to the staffing cuts underway.
According to USA TODAY, Yosemite National Park is halting reservations for nearly 600 camping spots this summer.
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This follows roughly 1,000 newly hired full-time NPS employees who are now being laid off. But a new memo from the Department of Interior says the park services could hire more than 7,000 seasonal staffers as an exception.
Moors is one of those workers who lost her job.
She is a former forestry technician for the U.S. Forest Service and was in the process of taking a new role with the Bureau of Land Management, essentially losing two jobs at once.
Her BLM offer was rescinded on Jan. 22, she said, calling the decision “catastrophic” and like “being hit with a double whammy.”
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She was already packed and ready to move across the country.
“It was the worst news that I could have received,” she said. “Felt like a huge stab in the back.”
Her employers told her she was being let go based on her performance, despite receiving “great performance reviews.”
Like Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” For Moors, being a park ranger is just that.
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At times, she manned the visitor center desk, answering visitors’ questions. Other times, she worked the timed entry reservation system and assisted with accidents and medical emergencies.
“I assisted in several critical incidents that ended up in people’s lives being saved,” she said. “The cuts are coming at such an odd time because the parks are about to enter the busy season. Weather is headed our way.”
Moors said, “There’s gonna be far-reaching consequences.”
