News: Forest Bill Advances, Jobs on the Line, and Wildlife on the Move

Parkography

RV Miles Network

Science, Nature, Places & Travel, Society & Culture:places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.9 • 870 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week’s national park news roundup covers a wave of potential job cuts across the Department of the Interior — including hundreds from the National Park Service — plus new legislation in Congress aimed at tackling wildfires and forest management. We’ll also look at wildlife making surprising moves in Yellowstone and Michigan, new state parks opening in Tennessee, major campground expansion plans in Michigan, and California’s push to bring art and culture into its parks. Find the Slinky Stove that's right for your next adventure at: https://www.slinkystove.com/?ref=PARKography Join the PARKography Facebook group to discuss this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parkography

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jason Epperson. This is Parkography, and it's time for the latest in National Park and Public Lands News.
0:07.6	First up, the Trump administration plans to lay off another 2,000 employees from the Department of the Interior,
0:14.1	including hundreds from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management.
0:19.6	A court filing in the Northern District of California posted October 20th revealed that
0:24.9	2050 workers across 89 Interior Department units are slated for termination.
0:31.4	In a statement to Outside Magazine, the department said that the proposed layoffs were developed
0:36.2	before the ongoing federal shutdown began.
0:39.3	The Interior noted that it has repeatedly reviewed and evaluated its current workforce and its departmental needs,
0:46.1	citing efforts to examine efficiencies, reduce redundancies, and explore options related to reductions in force, or RIFs.
0:53.9	The proposal surfaced as the federal government entered its third week of a shutdown.
0:59.0	President Trump has repeatedly warned of broad agency layoffs during the closure.
1:04.0	These particular cuts are currently on hold under a court order.
1:08.0	On October 15th, District Judge Susan Lillston ruled the firings illegal
1:12.8	and issued a temporary freeze. The list of affected positions was disclosed publicly as part of that
1:19.0	pause. If allowed to proceed, 474 Bureau of Land Management positions, 143 Fish and Wildlife Service
1:26.4	roles, and 272 National Park Service jobs are on the chopping
1:30.6	block. The U.S. Geological Survey would lose another 335, while 770 jobs would be eliminated from the
1:38.6	Office of the Secretary. The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has advanced its bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act,
1:46.8	a sweeping wildfire and forest management bill led by senators Alex Padilla, John Curtis, John Hickenlooper, and Tim Sheehe, two Democrats and two Republicans.
1:57.2	The legislation aims to reduce catastrophic wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and streamline federal management processes across millions of acres of public land.
2:07.7	Padilla called the bill, quote, real progress toward protecting Americans and our environment through forward-thinking practical wildfire solutions.
2:15.8	The bill would create a wildfire intelligence center to coordinate multi-agency response,
	...

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