While it is clear our press complex has landed on the side of opposing Elon Musk and his efforts to shrink the government and curb spending, questions arise as to why. Why is curtailing the monolithic government agencies, which have metastasized into unwieldy entities, so offensive? What could anyone find objectionable about cutting wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, especially if you are a news outlet claiming to have called for that very action?

One sign that the press members are struggling with this concept is that, as a form of defense, they regularly turn to the National Parks Service as a symbol of the unfairly impacted class of federal workers. We have been treated to many of these weepy reports, with rangers speaking out on personal stories. This even involved the staging of an inverted U.S. flag at one park, a move that generated fewer teary eyes and--likely--more eye-rolling.

Easily one of the best reports (“best” meaning generating laughter) was the supposed sob story of a locksmith being put out of work, the tragedy being they possess the lone set of keys at one location, and this could lead to visitors finding themselves locked in a bathroom, unable to be rescued. The very fact that cutting more sets of keys, and seeing to it that numerous workers could then tend to lavatory-imprisoned patrons was a novel idea, underscored the thought process inertia prevalent in government institutions.

Well, ABC News is onto the same National Parks talking point, and frankly, this narrative has reached a breaking point. We need to cut this off now, if only for the mental well-being of our journalists. 

How national parks and forests could suffer as a result of federal firings https://t.co/Aa3gFEt9xt

— Derek Gendvil (@dgendvil) February 26, 2025

We get told in this latest ABC News report that the national parks are already falling into disrepair; after what, just a few weeks? That seems rather convenient timing, unless there was some sort of pre-existing issue that has become exacerbated by these cuts and firings. Oh, would you look at that – it seems that could actually be the case:

Federal agencies that were already strapped for resources, such as the National Parks Service and U.S. Forestry Service, will now be struggling to find workers to perform critical functions for visitors and maintenance.

“Already strapped for resources,” you say? That sounds rather…disqualifying; in these claims, the new administration is the cause of these hardships. Then we get told this has been a long-running problem with our parks.

• The NPS has been "stretched thin" since 2010, with a 20% reduction in park service staff in the last 15 years.

Yet, we see the cuts in jobs - 1,000 have been cited - make for less than 5 percent of park workers. According to the Park Service, there are 20,000 jobs in all of the Service. Then we see that not only has the Trump administration lifted a hiring freeze, it has permitted the parks to sign on 7,700 new employees – which, according to my fractured math, is a greater figure that the 1,000 fired. This seems to be quite the overreaction, from a numerical perspective. 

Oh, wait a moment now – did I mention numbers? For all of these claims of a destitute agency and the impending suffering visitors are promised to encounter (I recommend you make like a bear and choose to evacuate in the woods), there needs to be a question as to why it is facing this challenge.

During the Biden years, a rather copious amount of funds was allocated to the parks of this country.

• In 2022 President Biden increased the Parks budget to $3.5 billion.

• The next year that was raised by $227 million.

• There were tens of millions in separate allocations in following years.

• Biden found another $195 million for the Parks through his Investing In America spending plan.

Despite these payouts, as well as pledges from the Biden administration to boost staffing in our national parks, we are told the entire Service is still struggling and undermanned. And the blame for all of this lies with the man who took office one month ago. Uh…huh.

It comes as no surprise at all that the press has latched onto what they feel is a sympathetic approach, but one that is made pathetic by the very contradictory facts they provide. Do not pay attention to the details, just focus on the hype.

And in the meantime, it might be wise to avoid using the bathrooms.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to note that there are 20,000 National Park Service jobs rather than 415,000 (which represents the total number of jobs supported by visitors to national parks in communities near the parks). We regret the error.