A cave guide at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky was just 10 days from the end of her probationary employment period when she received an email that put an end to her dream career.
“I was not laid off, I was fired. We were all fired with no concept of ever being able to come back to this job,” said Emily Wheet.
Dedicated national park employees like Wheet are among thousands of federal workers who have lost their jobs amid federal cuts overseen by president Donald Trump and senior adviser Elon Musk.
Across the country, early estimates say over 2,000 seasonal employees had job offers rescinded in the midst of the administration’s federal hiring freeze. On Valentine’s Day, another 1,700 national park employees still in their probationary phases of employment were immediately fired from their positions — including Wheet.
She worked at the national park in various roles for around four years. She began in the park’s gift shop, using her lunch breaks and free literature privileges to learn all that she could about the park’s history, geology, and the unique ecosystems of the caves.
In time, she earned a spot as a seasonal cave guide, following in her father’s footsteps leading tours through the longest cave system in the world.
“Pretty much, from the time I was able to recognize my dad in the uniform and know, ‘My dad works in a cave!’ I was like, ‘That’s exactly what I want to do,’” Wheet recalled.
In that time, she says she exceeded expectations of regular employee assessments.
“I was doing everything that I could, I was creating new programs, I had actually been able to create a B.A.R.K Ranger program for our park and held our first B.A.R.K Ranger Day and I know my friends had done some awesome stuff too,” Wheet said.
That program allows dogs that visit the park to receive their own B.A.R.K Ranger certification and badge after completing a short training program.
In August last year, the 22-year-old received a permanent job offer with Mammoth Cave as a cave guide. She was 10 days from the end of her probationary employment period when she received an email that put an end to her dream career.
“The department determined that you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment because your subject matter knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the department’s current needs and it is necessary and appropriate to terminate during the probationary period your appointment to the position of park guide at Mammoth Cave within the National Park Service,” Wheet read.
Three fellow employees in the Interpretation and Visitor Resources division received the same email on February 14. An additional 17 seasonal employees in the same division had their job offers rescinded.
The National Park Service did not provide information on how many park employees were fired in other divisions, like maintenance, administration, or resource management.
Graffiti found inside Mammoth Cave in March 2025.
The mass firings leave national parks in a fragile position leading into peak visitor seasons like spring and summer breaks. Mammoth Cave relies on their seasonal employees to lead the majority of cave tours. For larger parks like Yellowstone National Park, experts say seasonal employees are the framework of the park.
Kristen Brengel is the Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Park Conservation Association. She’s acted as a liaison between the national parks and the federal government for over twenty years.
“So, when you think about this, a place like Yellowstone National Park increases their staff by 500 seasonals. 500 seasonals in order to manage all of the visitation of Yellowstone in the summer,” Brengel said.
She explained that the roles of seasonal employees make or break a visitor’s experience in the park. Seasonal employees explain essential safety information, lead educational programs, maintain park facilities and greet visitors when they arrive in the parks.
“This could have dramatic effects on people’s visits to the national parks, and in some cases, this could mean that parks don’t even have the leadership they need in order to manage them,” Brengel said.
At Mammoth Cave National Park, those impacts could mean limited park hours and tours, as well as decreased revenue to neighboring communities like Cave City, Park City, Glasgow and Bowling Green.
According to the National Park Service, Mammoth Cave National Park generated $89.6 million to communities within 60-miles of the park in 2023.
Brengel says that nationwide, that impact is multiplied.
“$55 billion dollars is what the Park Service generated to the United States economy. So, if people are going into National Parks and having terrible visits, can’t get into bathrooms, trails are ruined, anything to that effect and people have bad experiences there, they’re not going to keep going back. And it’s going to hurt the economies of these local communities that depend on the parks,” she said.
Brengel said that since 2010, national park staff has decreased by roughly 20%. Despite an understaffed workforce, park visitation has increased each year. She worries that adding to that deficit will place the parks in a precarious position.
“It isn’t being done in a thoughtful manner, it’s just being done in a blanket way, just getting rid of people but not thinking through who you’re getting rid of. It could devastate the National Park Service,” Brengel said.
Training at Mammoth Cave for cave guide essentials like first aid and park history was set to begin February 24. However, with seasonal and probationary positions stripped, Wheet said that training could not happen.
Three days later the National Park Service released a statement saying it now intends to hire seasonal employees.
The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior did not respond to a request to interview, and did not provide information on how many seasonal offers would be resent.
Wheet said that despite the obstacles, she will do whatever it takes to return to her dream career.
“I’ll be back. No question, I’ll be back. I’m already fielding some internship offers just to go back as an intern. Anything I can do to be there, I’m going to do it because I love my job.”
FOIA requests to the National Park Service are expected to reveal the full scope of those mass firings by October 2026.
This story may be updated with new information on the status of federal employees.
This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKYU in Kentucky and NPR.
