Cuyahoga Valley National Park protest draws hundreds of Northeast Ohioans

Snow had fallen, but voices were raised in support of our National Parks and the workers that tend them, during a protest outside the Boston Mills Visitor Center in Peninsula, on Saturday, March 1. 

With signs ranging from a simple declaration of love for civil service workers to outright condemnations of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, some 250-300 Ohioans gathered to show their appreciation for Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the National Forest Service. Over the course of three hours, it seemed as though the crowd could not be broken; indeed, despite the frigid cold, even if one person were to bow out, it was as if two more would arrive to take their place. And in true Northeast Ohio fashion, the snowflakes trickling down couldn’t dampen the protesters’ spirits, as the overwhelming mood was one of positivity and admiration for our park rangers.

The demonstration was one of several  national protests organized by the Resistance Rangers, a coalition of over 700 off-duty and recently laid off park rangers focused on saving public lands and inspiring citizens to peacefully voice their opposition to government measures endangering our environment. Their message on Saturday was clear: the approximately 1,000 National Park Service and 3,400 Forest Service employee terminations are not only a tragic loss of necessary jobs, but also a warning sign. The staffers were laid off in February, apparently at the behest of Trump and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to NPR. 

According to event organizers, those terminated include members of the National Park System’s emergency medical response, public and childhood education, forest fire management, biological research, and historical preservation teams. It may not seem like such a dire thing to some, but when you consider how many park rangers carry out essential duties for an entire park, the loss of a single ranger becomes a lot more severe. That ranger who hands your kid a Junior Ranger badge may also be the park’s only EMT or the person responsible for ensuring all maps, signs, trail markers, and other visual materials are clear, safe, and correct. For Cuyahoga Valley National Park, “positions eliminated included a biologist, a maintenance worker, and a parks planner who had been working on future plans for the former Brandywine Golf Course and new trails,” per the Akron Beacon Journal.

Another goal of the protest was to bring attention to the Antiquities Act of 1906, which was inspired by President Teddy Roosevelt’s 1903 camping trip with John Muir. On that trip, Roosevelt and Muir discussed the need for the United States to protect our nation’s most treasured lands from those who would destroy them in the interest of industry and development. This law, one of the most important conservation laws in America, is under threat from President Trump’s proposal to open National Monument lands up for drilling. The Resistance Rangers feel that our National Monuments are not only places of beauty and national pride, but also important pieces of American history. This, combined with the loss of educational workers in our National Parks, would be a devastating blow. One of the protest organizers, who preferred not to be named, put it rather succinctly: “Terminating those who protect our historical sites is the same as terminating American history, and that’s a shame.”

The protesters themselves appeared to be a unified front, all carrying the same message in the end: Ohioans want our National Parks to be saved. In attendance were retired schoolteachers, former park employees, stay-at-home parents, musicians, even a retired Ohio EPA employee who worked with hazardous waste cleanup for 30 years. One group in particular – a hiking group called Journey On Yonder, which advocates for stronger relationships to nature within the BIPOC community, as well as better experiences overall for newcomers to hiking and the great outdoors – expressed a profound desire for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as well as all National Parks, to remain protected and safe for all. Kim Woodford, founder of Journey On Yonder, said, “We advocate for the parks and for the park employees because this is what we love.”

The Resistance Rangers stressed the importance of calling and writing to Ohio representatives, a message largely shared by the crowd. Some protesters said they had attempted to contact Senator Bernie Moreno or their district offices only to be met with full voicemail boxes or curt staff, but all were undeterred. The Senator’s office could not be reached for comment prior to publication. 

“These parks are our life,” said Woodford. “This is what we’re all about.”