For years, members of Utah’s political class have been arguing that federal bureaucrats who live 2,000 miles away ought not be making decisions about managing the large swaths of federal land that happen to sit in our state.
So where are their voices now? Now that a gaggle of technocrats who aren’t bonafide federal officials, having demonstrated no knowledge about Utah and less concern, have been firing employees of the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey and other Interior Department agencies.
Utah’s elected leaders, at the local, state and national levels, should be raising holy hell about these moves — those who supposedly have the ear of the new administration most of all.
Public lands, especially the national parks, are a huge economic driver, not only for gateway towns such as Moab, Springdale and St. George, but also for the Utah economy as a whole.
Activity generated in and around the parks boosts the Utah economy by an estimated $3 billion a year. The total impact from all outdoor recreation in the state tops $9.5 billion and supports nearly 72,000 jobs.
Nobody really seems to know how many NPS workers — maybe 30 or more in Utah, out of more than 1,000 nationwide — have been fired by the unelected and uncertified marauders who work for Elon Musk. The numbers involved, though, aren’t so important as the utter randomness.
Our Mighty Five national parks were already running on fumes and nearly every employee who has been terminated had a unique skillset, positive performance reviews and has worn numerous hats every day. We need them.
As a result of this firing spree, national parks in Utah and elsewhere have been cutting back on services and hours, canceling activities and will fall even further behind on maintenance and security.
As anyone in the hospitality industry can tell you, it only takes a few negative reviews for people to be turned off of visiting national parks for good. That’s nothing less than tragic, for Utah and for the visitors, many of whom pay taxes to support the parks and deserve a much better experience when they travel a long way to get here.
Utah Sen. John Curtis, at least, has weighed in on the impact of these cuts, on affected Utah households and the entire state economy. Correctly, he has pointed out how these cuts have occurred with no notice, no evaluation of their work, no opportunity for appeal, and those affected have had their jobs eliminated, so far as we can tell, due to no fault of their own.
Indiscriminate firings in other federal offices, including the Internal Revenue Service center in Ogden, will also do more damage to taxpayer services than they will save in federal expenditures.
Crippling the IRS may sound like fun for folks now struggling through their 1040s. But the only real winners are likely to be tax-evading billionaires who will now get away with improper deductions and dodges, increasing the burden on everyone else.
The attack on the national parks must be seen as an attempt to first devalue them, then close them or turn them over to private ownership, ownership motivated by short-term profit, not pride and stewardship.
This is not to argue that every federal employee is indispensable, every federal bureau impeccably managed. In an organization as large as the federal bureaucracy, perfection is not a remote possibility.
But changes must be made carefully, with a detailed cost/benefit analysis, or the cure becomes far worse than the disease.
Real, thoughtful reform should be the job of Congress, if it can find its spine, and established executive branch operations such as the Office of Management and Budget. It is not a task for an ad hoc crew of tech bros who clearly have no concept of, or care for, the damage they are doing, in Utah and everywhere else.
