公园员工形容这一年是接连不断的危机：从在大峡谷附近延烧将近三个月、摧毁一百多栋建物并迫使大规模步道关闭的「龙布拉沃大火」，到让公共土地暴露无人守护的四十三天政府关门。自一月以来，国家公园管理局的劳动力缩减约百分之二十五，即使护林员同时面对创纪录的游客量、气候驱动的灾害，以及像供水管线破裂这样正在失效的基础设施。

在这些压力之下，组织行动明显加速：二十四个公园单位与办公室的员工已提交请愿书，可能再让一千三百多名员工加入工会。约五千七百名、在大约一万三千名具资格的国家公园员工中，已经是工会成员，因此一旦选举成功，机关很可能跨过百分之五十门槛，首次成为以工会为多数。单在情人节当天的裁员就砍掉约一千个试用期公园职位，之后法院命令才暂时让许多职位得以复职。

倡议者强调，每年数以亿计的游客带来超过五百五十六亿美元的经济产出，并支撑约四十一万五千个工作，但许多公园员工的薪资远低于联邦平均水准，还得依赖低劣且过度拥挤的住房。工会近来为联邦野地消防员争取到最高可达基本薪资百分之四十二的永久加薪。组织者主张，类似的待遇提升加上更强的工作保障，对守护那七十二英亩已经被毁的约书亚树和无数其他不可替代的资源至关重要。

Park workers describe a year of cascading crises, from the Dragon Bravo Fire that burned near the Grand Canyon for almost three months, destroyed over 100 buildings and forced major trail closures, to a 43-day government shutdown that left public lands exposed. Since January, the National Park Service workforce has shrunk about 25%, even as rangers confront record visitation, climate-driven disasters and failing infrastructure such as rupturing water pipelines.

Amid these pressures, organizing has accelerated: workers at 24 park units and offices have filed petitions that could unionize over 1,300 additional staff. About 5,700 of roughly 13,000 eligible NPS employees are already union members, so successful elections would likely push the agency past the 50% threshold to become majority-union. Valentine’s Day layoffs alone eliminated around 1,000 probationary park jobs before a court order temporarily reinstated many positions.

Advocates stress that hundreds of millions of annual visitors generate over $55.6 billion in economic output and support about 415,000 jobs, even while many park employees earn far below average federal wages and rely on substandard, overcrowded housing. Unions recently secured permanent pay increases of up to 42% for federal wildland firefighters. Organizers argue that similar gains, plus stronger job protections, are essential to safeguard the 72 acres of Joshua trees and countless other irreplaceable resources already lost or threatened.