Since January, Heatley has seen Crater Lake’s permanent workforce cut, and onboarding seasonal staff was delayed by a month. That compounds reductions that have shrunk the workforce by half over the past 10 years.
“Things are not OK,” Heatley told OPB on Monday. “This is not a normal situation. This is a paradigm shift that is having repercussions that will last for at least a generation.”
Heatley started his role in January after working for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for about nine years. He moved to the National Park Service, thinking it would be safe from the type of government shrinking outlined by conservative groups in Project 2025.
Then shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump’s administration fired thousands of government employees and encouraged others to accept buyout offers or face potential layoffs. Courts have required federal agencies to rehire some workers who were abruptly fired, but many workers have chosen not to return.
Heatley accepted the most recent buyout offer presented to federal staffers.
“This is not an easy decision,” Heatley said. “Being a superintendent of a major national park is not something you just walk away from on a whim.”
Crater Lake is a nearly 2,000-foot deep lake — the deepest in the U.S. — filled with rain and snowmelt at the heart of the Mount Mazama caldera. Over 500,000 people visit this remote mountain every year, making staffing critical to ensuring bathrooms are stocked, signs and bridges are repaired, and roads are clear of snow.
“We have people trying to cover way more than they should in order to keep things rolling,” Heatley said, adding that his facilities staff were often working 60-hour weeks.
This summer could see even more people who want to take a dip in the vivid blue lake, as this will be visitors’ last chance to swim or boat in the caldera until 2029. The National Park Service is preparing to renovate the lake’s only access point — a project that appears to still be in the works, despite workforce cuts.
Heatley said he’s most concerned about Crater Lake’s lack of interpretive staff, who run educational programs that teach the public about the wonders of Crater Lake and its challenges.
“Crater Lake is at direct risk from climate change,” Heatley said. “We’re seeing changes in the lake itself. We’re seeing changes in the forest systems and the lands around Crater Lake.”
Heatley said he doesn’t have immediate plans for his next job, but he hopes it will be with an organization that advocates for public lands.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
