FORT LARAMIE – Changes are likely coming later this year to the programs and services currently available at the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Fort Laramie, part of the National Park Service (NPS), sees approximately 44,000 visitors annually, including both locals and out-of-town guests. 

In addition to daily operations, the fort hosts a Junior Ranger Program, school field trips, summer re-enactors, Astronomy Night, the annual Independence Day Celebration, Christmas on the Frontier, and numerous guest speakers. 

Fort Laramie also preserves the history and memory of American westward expansion by maintaining more than a dozen historic buildings, managing a museum collection and research library, and sharing the stories of the tribes, Mormon travelers, soldiers and explorers who left their mark on southeast Wyoming.

Since President Donald J. Trump returned to office in January, he has issued multiple executive orders calling for significant reductions in federal government staffing and funding among all agencies including the NPS. Compliance with these executive orders has been rolling out over the past month and will continue under the guidance of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Fort Laramie staff have been instructed not to speak to the media regarding the impact on the site. However, non-federal organizations working closely with the National Park have provided some insight into the current and anticipated challenges Fort Laramie staff are facing. 

The outlook is bleak – staffing at the site was already down 20% at the start of this fiscal year due to retirements and transfers, and an additional full-time staff member has been lost. This vacant position cannot be filled under an Executive Order mandating an indefinite hiring freeze. Another staff member, currently in their probationary year, is a likely target for termination in the coming weeks. There has been conflicting guidance regarding how many and what type of seasonal employees the site can hire, despite its reliance on seasonal staff during the busy summer months. 

Additionally, the internship program, which previously provided extra support over the summer, has been cut. In recent years, the site benefited from two interns each year; this year, none will be coming.

Discussions are ongoing, and no final decisions have been made regarding how Fort Laramie will adjust operations to account for the staffing reductions. Many National Parks, including Florissant Fossil Beds in Colorado, have reduced the number of days they are open to the public. Others, like Zion National Park in Utah and Yellowstone National Park, have scaled back services at entry booths and visitor centers. Yosemite National Park is one of many parks which have paused reservations for campsites. Many parks have also expressed concerns reduced staffing will affect cleanliness and maintenance, already a significant challenge given the number of visitors and the size of the parks. Those familiar with Fort Laramie’s operations anticipate if all current executive orders are fully implemented without reprieve, the site will likely have to cut programs, including spring field trips. It is also likely the site’s hours of operation will be affected.

Members of the local community have expressed concern for the site. There are concerns the changes are disheartening to the dedicated and highly qualified staff currently serving at Fort Laramie. Joyce Evans, a local rancher who has served as the mayor of Fort Laramie township and is currently on the Fort Laramie Historical Association board, is also worried about the impact on visitors to the National Park. 

“While the immediate impact of removing personnel at the National Historic Site on visitor experience may be negligible, there will be more dramatic impacts later in the season,” Evans says. “Fewer full-time employees will not only reduce the quality of a visit to Fort Laramie but will also begin to make trips to any national park less attractive. The inability of the Park Service to hire seasonal employees and complete planned projects will quickly lead to fewer visitors because there will be fewer interpretive services and less appealing destinations.”

Evans is also concerned about the economic impact of the cuts.

“All of this means that local communities will not only have lost the residents who worked at the Fort and their contributions to local economies, but they will also have lost the casual visitor who stops for fuel or snacks or even looks for real estate to purchase. While it is difficult to predict how that translates into actual dollars, let’s just say I would not be starting a business in this county right now if it in any way depended on out-of-town visitors,” Evans said.

Beyond economic concerns, many worry about preserving the history and beauty of the National Parks and public lands. Fifty-six percent of Wyoming consists of public land, which benefits the state through wildlife and habitat management, historical preservation, and recreation. One of President Trump’s executive orders calls for “exploration and production on federal lands and waters.” At the Fort Laramie site, True Oil has begun drilling on property bordering NPS land, and currently, up to 300 trucks per day use the same historic bridge which visitors to Fort Laramie travel on.

The NPS is not the only organization affected by the recent actions against federal workers. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reports as of January 2025, there were 6,832 federal employees in Wyoming. Of these, 2,173 work for the Department of the Interior, which includes the NPS, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management; 2,040 work for the Department of Veterans Affairs; 1,135 work for the Department of Agriculture, including the USDA and the U.S. Forest Service; 725 work for the Air Force, with the remainder spread across various other agencies. Two of these agencies, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs, have been early targets of staffing reductions. Even the Department of Defense, traditionally exempt from staffing cuts, announced this week it will be reducing its workforce by terminating staff and through attrition.

Nationally, the federal workforce remains the same size as a percentage of the population as it was in 1980, despite its expanded scope of responsibilities. Since the 1990s, Congress has repeatedly urged federal agencies to “do more with less” in terms of both budget and staffing levels. 

Currently, there are approximately 2.4 million non-postal federal employees. The White House reports 75,000 workers have opted into the “Deferred Resignation Program,” in which federal employees were incentivized to resign in exchange for continued payment over the next few months. 

Additionally, the White House has instructed agencies to eliminate all probationary employees, typically in their first year of employment, reducing the workforce by another 220,000. This week, agencies were asked to submit plans for even deeper cuts to experienced staff. 

Many question whether these cuts will achieve meaningful cost savings – the proposed staffing reductions, even at the highest stated goal of 10%, represent less than 0.04% of the federal budget. Meanwhile, staff contractors, who currently represent 11% of the federal budget – almost three times the amount spent on federal employees – have not faced mandatory cuts.

As of February 21, 41 federal employees in Wyoming had filed claims with the state’s Unemployment Insurance Division. These numbers only reflect those who have fully separated with no outstanding paperwork and do not include the probationary employees terminated in the past week or those taking the “Deferred Resignation.” 

The full impact remains to be seen. Local Forest Service offices report their current staffing levels are down to approximately 30% of their authorized positions. A February 26 memo from the Office of Budget Management and OPM requires agencies to return those authorized positions, eliminating any hope of filling vacancies when the current hiring freeze is lifted.

While federal employees in Wyoming will bear the brunt of the staffing and funding cuts, all Wyoming residents will feel the effects. Cuts to federal grant programs will impact local nonprofit assistance organizations. The ongoing dismantling of the federal Department of Education is expected to create gaps in school lunch programs, special education, and professional development. Reports also indicate significant cuts to federal firefighter crews. Both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Forest Service’s Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program have faced substantial reductions. Federal fire crews, often the first to detect and respond to wildfires, are a crucial part of Wyoming’s emergency response.

Some agencies have reinstated terminated probationary employees following court orders requiring the federal government to follow statutory dismissal procedures. 

However, reinstated employees have been warned they may be re-fired under current OPM and White House mandates. Lawsuits have been filed against nearly all the president’s executive orders including those affecting workforce reductions and executive spending. 

With court involvement and ongoing budget negotiations in Congress, the future of National Parks, of the Fort Laramie National Historic Site, and other federal services in Wyoming remains uncertain.