A grassroots movement dubbing itself “Resistance Rangers” called for protests at all 433 of America’s National Park sites on Saturday, March 1, including Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. More than 60 protesters braved bitter cold temperatures to demonstrate at Sleeping Bear, meeting at the park’s Philip A. Hart Visitor Center around noon and walking to Empire Beach and back.

Resistance Rangers, described in a press release as “a group of 650+ off-duty park rangers rallying to save public lands and protect civil services,” are just part of a widespread National Parks Service (NPS) backlash against the Trump Administration and its policies. For more than a month, Alt National Parks, described as “the official ‘Resistance’ team of U.S. National Park Service” has been posting regular social media updates about White House actions, including those beyond the purview of parks and recreation. Furthermore, in recent weeks, upside-down American flags have been spotted at National Parks like Yosemite and Joshua Tree, historically an international sign of distress.

These protest efforts – including “433:433:1,” the nickname given for Saturday’s National Parks demonstration – are a response to Trump’s ongoing gutting of the federal government workforce. Among other impacted departments, the Department of Interior – which houses the NPS – suffered a mass layoff of 2,300 employees in February, including approximately 1,000 NPS employees. Another 3,400 people have been fired from the U.S. Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among the dismissed staffers, reportedly, are park rangers, first responders, trail workers, conservation scientists, and wildland firefighters.

In a press release, Resistance Rangers explained the reasoning behind 433:433:1, calling Trump’s firings “illegal” and proclaiming that they “WILL impact public lands” in the months to come. Those impacts, the group speculates, could range from diminished visitor services at National Parks to destruction of long-protected parklands. On the latter front, Resistance Rangers claimed that, “At the order of President Trump, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are working to ‘Unleash American Energy’ by revoking restrictions and reviewing federal lands for resource extraction.”

Resistance Rangers also noted how cuts at National Parks could have ripple effects for the areas where those parks are located. Per NPS data, in 2023 alone, 325 million park visitors “spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local gateway regions while visiting NPS lands across the country,” supporting “415,000 jobs, $19.4 billion in labor income, $32.0 billion in value added, and $55.6 billion in economic output in the national economy.”

Since taking power, the Trump Administration has maintained that cuts to federal departments are part of a necessary “reduction of federal bureaucracy and waste.”

The Leelanau Ticker reported last month on the potential impacts that a federal hiring freeze might have on Sleeping Bear, which typically puts together its summer staff in the late winter and early spring. The NPS has since announced that parks have been given the green light to make seasonal hires for the summertime.

Pictured: An upside-down American flag at Joshua Tree National Park, courtesy of Resistance Rangers and Stuart Palley.