Even at Yosemite, 'the shadow of Donald Trump is over everything'

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — It was 10 a.m. in mid-July in California’s Yosemite Valley. As the temperature climbed over the 80-degree mark, late arrivals circled clogged parking lots scanning for an empty spot beneath the fragrant cedar trees and ponderosa pines.

On Yosemite’s purple line bus, dusty hikers enjoyed a brief blast of air conditioning, and tourists holding river floats between their knees craned their necks to catch a glimpse of Half Dome towering above the Merced River.

What’s less visible in this park, one of the crown jewels of the National Park Service, are the gray-and-green-clad park rangers who manage it.

The Trump administration has not disclosed its tally for national park staffing levels after its effort to slash the government workforce hit arguably the nation’s most popular federal agency earlier this year. But the park is down at least 40 staffers compared with last summer, according to figures shared with POLITICO’s E&E News by a person familiar with Yosemite’s current staffing. This summer, there are roughly 400 permanent staff and about 330 seasonal employees working in the park, that person said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/yosemite-feels-burn-understaffed-summer-110000293.html