Protestors took to the streets of Gustavus on Saturday, joining hundreds of demonstrations around the country in response to staffing cuts at National Parks and other public lands.
Glacier Bay National Park is headquartered in the small town of around 600 people — many of them current or former park employees. The workers said they’ve lost one biologist as a result of the cuts and that their demonstration was a show of solidarity.
Roughly 40 people held up homemade signs. One said “I speak for the trees,” referencing the children’s book “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, which warns against wrecking the environment for profit. Another sign read “Elon sucks,” referring to the unelected billionaire who’s leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in slashing federal agency jobs.
Katy Dighton, a current park staff member, organized the demonstration as a private citizen. She said that protesting in a small, rural place matters, even if it doesn’t seem productive.
“We’re just standing up for what we care about. I refuse to act like everything is okay at this point,” Dighton said.
The park covers 3.3 million acres and brought in over 700,000 visitors in 2023. Dighton says that number is growing.
Sven Hooson maintains facilities at Glacier Bay. He attended the protest wearing a shirt that read ‘protect our national parks.’
“There was no rally cry in particular, but we were just there to support the parks and support our employees across the nation,” Hooson said.
He says that Gustavus depends on park employment, and that staff there work like an “intricate machine” to make the landscape accessible.
“When you start taking pieces out of the machine, the service to the public starts to go down,” he said.
The National Park Service did not confirm the number of employees fired from Glacier Bay, or comment on the demonstration.
