NPS Help Wanted: Reed Delivers Funds to Hire More National Park Service Employees in RI & Nationwide
NPS plans to spend over $1 million hiring park employees in RI to meet growing demand & adapt to climate change
WASHINGTON, DC – Do you have what it takes to be a National Park Ranger? Or how about an archivist, community planner, seasonal employee or an intern?
The U.S. National Park Services (NPS) is looking to hire a few more good men and women, and U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is encouraging Rhode Islanders to apply.
Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, helped make the NPS staffing increase possible through a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) that is providing up to $500 million to hire around 5,000 more NPS employees over the next decade, and by boosting the NPS budget by $210 million in the 2023 appropriations law, a 6.4 percent increase.
Thanks in part to Senator Reed’s leadership, the National Park Service plans to spend an estimated $1,050,000 staffing up Rhode Island’s NPS units, such as Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park – birthplace of America’s Industrial revolution — and Roger Williams National Memorial.
The 85 million-acre National Park system includes 423 park units and covers some of the nation’s most treasured public spaces. In addition, NPS staff work with communities across the country to help preserve local history and create recreational opportunities.
Nationwide, NPS employed nearly 21,200 full- and part-time employees who served 312 million recreation visitors across the country in 2022. These park visitors generated an estimated $23.9 billion in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands across the country, according to the latest National Park Visitor Spending Effects report.
Senator Reed says the new NPS hires are needed to help the National Park Service keep up with the pressures of surging attendance and public safety. For example, nationwide NPS search and rescue operations tripled in 2021.
The federal funds will also help NPS address challenges related to climate change, including preparing U.S. parks’ natural, cultural and historic resources to withstand future floods, droughts, storms, and other effects of a changing climate. The Inflation Reduction Act funding for national parks can support staff and building infrastructure that make national park unit sites stronger to the effects of climate change (from trail work to education programs to habitat restoration to improving pollution runoff, curbing floods, and rebuilding other natural systems).
“National parks are public treasures and I am pleased to deliver federal funds to make them stronger, more resilient and accessible. As millions of people flock to our national parks, we must ensure we have the appropriate staffing levels and infrastructure in place to keep up and provide visitors a safe and welcoming experience,” said Senator Reed. “Working for the National Park Service, regardless of your title, is about protecting America’s natural beauty and cultural heritage. I’m proud to work with the National Park Service to help them achieve their critical mission.”
Senator Reed wrote and passed the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park Establishment Act, creating a multi-site national historical park in the area that gave birth to America’s Industrial Revolution.
NPS is actively seeking a new archivist who will be based in Rhode Island and tasked with surveying and organizing archives and records of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park and Roger Williams National Memorial and will assess the Old Slater Mill Association’s collections and research files previously located at Wilkinson Mill. This work will vastly improve the park’s access to critical information and images that are now hidden and unfindable within the collection of reference materials and archives located in Pawtucket.
NPS also anticipates the need to add seasonal rangers and seasonal laborers to help the park service meet the expectations of visitors during the peak seasons of fall and summer.
Interested candidates may learn more about working for the National Park Service at: Work for Us (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) and apply for current openings at USAJobs.gov, a federal job listing site that is updated with the latest job openings.
