Yosemite to reopen some campgrounds after Trump’s cuts and protests
Yosemite National Park will soon begin taking reservations again for several campgrounds this summer following public protests by park employees after President Trump administration’s federal job slashing spree earlier this year.
The park announced Friday that it would soon resume campground reservations at Wawona, Hodgdon Meadow and sites 1-124 in Upper Pines later this month. On March 24, reservations will open for arrivals between June 15 and July 14, and on March 31 reservations will open for July 15 through August 14. This is after last month park employees reportedly flew an American flag upside down from the face off El Capitan, protesting cost-cutting by Trump’s administration that fired thousands of national park employees throughout the country.
It is unclear when the rest of the parks campgrounds may reopen, after the park halted reservations last month following the jobs cuts, the San Francisco Chronicle reporterd.
The upside down American flag historically signals a distress call.
The Trump administration cut 1,000 new parks employees last month out of the 20,000 which make up the federal department. At least a dozen Yosemite workers got fired, according to media reports.
Yosemite in 2021 employed over 700 workers in the peak summer season, and over 400 workers in the winter season.
The park “may release further sites if operational capacity allows,” according to an online post.