Wild horses roam a beach on Assateague Island on June 30, 2015.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. — When Azania Lane-Majestic arrived at the beach with her family, her initial excitement gave way to concern. No lifeguards could be seen despite heavy, pounding surf.
So she held the hand of her 8-year-old daughter whenever they went in the water. And, just in case, she went online and looked up how to spot and escape a riptide.
“The presence of lifeguards provides an extra level of security,” said Lane-Majestic, of Pittsburgh. “Lifeguards are an important extra set of eyes.”
Just as scores of vacationers descend on national parks for summer fun and, of course, the July Fourth weekend, certain beaches at the National Park Service are curtailing lifeguard hours. Some are still trying to staff up. And at least some beaches at popular federal parks are open for swimming with no lifeguards at all.
The reason: The Trump administration slashed jobs, offered buyouts to employees, and implemented a hiring freeze at the park service. State and local lawmakers, as well as some advocacy groups, say the actions have created a risky situation by leaving some federal parks with a shortage of lifeguards.
The National Park Service declined to address specific questions about this situation because it is considered a personnel issue.
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Fewer than half of the 7,700 seasonal federal park positions such as lifeguards had been filled as of late May, said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, a membership group that has sought to get dismissed employees reinstated.
Some of the nation’s most popular beaches are managed by the National Park Service, which saw about 1,000 employees laid off in February by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was created by executive order and overseen by billionaire Elon Musk through May.
An estimated 2,500 permanent park service workers — or about 13% of the total workforce — also accepted buyouts or early retirements offered by the Trump administration in its effort to downsize the federal government.
An administration freeze on seasonal hiring also delayed recruitment for lifeguard positions, Wade said.
The park service is not providing information about the impact the employment squeeze is having on lifeguard services at national parks because park staffers have been told not to discuss the issue, according to a federal lawmaker, the association, and local elected officials.
“They’ve been ordered not to give out any information to anyone because they’re calling it personnel-related,” said Wade of the park ranger association. “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.”
In early June, visitors to the recreational beach at Virginia’s Assateague Island, managed by the National Park Service, were greeted by signs advising them that no lifeguards were on duty. A Trump administration hiring freeze and Department of Government Efficiency staffing cuts reportedly have affected the park service’s hiring of seasonal employees such as lifeguards.(Robert Housman)
Great Kills Park Beach on Staten Island in New York will have lifeguards only on Saturdays and Sundays, although lifeguards staffed the beach Thursdays through Sundays in previous years, according to information currently on the National Park Service’s website and 2024 lifeguard hours posted by the National Park Planner, a nongovernment 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 peninsula 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 necessary …