Recreational beaches at National Park Service sites are coping with a shortage of lifeguards caused by Trump administration staffing freezes and cuts, lawmakers and advocacy groups told KFF Health News.
Some of the parks are reducing the hours when lifeguards are available, rushing to recruit hires, or opening beaches without any lifeguards at all. Fewer than half of the 7,700 seasonal federal park positions such as lifeguards had been filled as of late May, according to Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, a membership group that has sought to get employees reinstated.
“We can assume in some cases, because there are a lot of national parks with water, that there will be a shortage in some areas,” he said.
The National Park Service did not respond to questions about the situation. The Department of the Interior said lifeguard shortages are a nationwide concern even outside of public lands.
“At the National Park Service, we are expecting our lifeguard staffing to pick up as summer goes on,” said agency spokesperson J. Elizabeth Peace. “We appreciate the public’s understanding and cooperation as we work to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all.”
Entrances to the recreational beaches on Assateague Island National Seashore, a more than 37-mile barrier island in Maryland and Virginia, bore signs in early June warning that there were no lifeguards on duty. Their absence worried Azania Lane-Majestic, a visitor from Pittsburgh. She went online and looked up how to spot and escape a riptide just in case.
“The presence of lifeguards provides an extra level of security,” said Lane-Majestic, 28. “Lifeguards are an important extra set of eyes.”
Great Kills Park Beach on Staten Island in New York will have lifeguards only on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the site’s National Park Service webpage, although lifeguards staffed the beach Thursday-Sunday previously, per lifeguard hours posted by the National Park Planner, a resource on more than 160 National Park Service sites.
And the safety of swimmers at the Gateway National Recreational Area’s Sandy Hook, a 6-mile-long barrier beach in New Jersey, could be at risk, said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). He is calling on the Trump administration to answer questions by June 30 about why the National Park Service is “failing to hire the lifeguards” and other essential personnel, according to a June 9 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
About 1,000 park service employees were laid off in February by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, Wade said. An estimated 2,500 permanent park service workers — or about 13% of the total workforce — also accepted buyouts or early retirements offered by the administration in its effort to downsize the federal government. A hiring freeze for seasonal employees also delayed the recruiting season for lifeguards.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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