Residents from Jefferson County and the surrounding area gathered in Harpers Ferry at noon on Saturday, March 1 to protest the recent mass firings of federal government employees, particularly those who had been working for the National Park Service. Harpers Ferry Mayor Gregory Vaughn estimated the event crowd to be over 200 at its peak, gathered near the obelisk that marks the site of John Brown’s 1859 raid. The crowd was energized and their voices echoed up the hillsides all the way to the plaza in front of St. Peter’s church high above the town.
Kierstyn Williams, who organized the rally in Harpers Ferry, says this event was one of 130 similar events held today at national parks across the country. An informal group operating under the name Resistance Rangers started posting on Instagram on Thursday, February 28, with the idea of a coordinated nationwide day of action on March 1. Williams says she started messaging her local friends and was expecting only a dozen or so people to show for the local event. She was visibly energized by the crowd that was over 100 by the time the event started at noon and grew from there. Williams noted that no active park service employees were involved in today’s event, but she did point out a few individuals who had been recently terminated in the mass firings.
Williams explained that these mass firings are personal for her: “I had just left a contract position at Catoctin Mountain park to take a new position at Fort Sumpter park, but that offer was rescinded along with the firing of all of the other probationary employees in the park service.” Williams continued “I feel that I had invested a lot of time and resources to build a career with the Park Service and now that is just being discarded. But it’s not just about me and the others who have been fired. These are our public lands and these indiscriminate firings and staff reductions put them at risk.”
National Parks Generate Economic Benefits
The Resistance Rangers organizers emphasized the stewardship role of the National Park Service (NPS) in the call to action for the March 1 events, with a statement that the “illegal firings and delayed seasonal hirings will impact public lands.” The organizers also noted the economic value of the national park system, referencing 2023 data published by the National Park Service reporting that “325 million park visitors spent an estimated $26.4 billion in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands across the country.”
Source (map & graphs) 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects report (NPS/SR 2024/174).
The National Park Services report on 2023 spending breaks down the economic impact by state. For West Virginia the report indicates $120 million in direct visitor spending per year. The report also provides direct visitor spending numbers for each park, reporting $24 million in direct visitor spending for the Harpers Ferry park. The NPS report estimates that the follow-on economic benefit to the local economies is double these direct spending amounts (in addition to the direct spending amounts). The NPS report estimates that 92 percent of the spending attributed to the Harpers Ferry park is from non-local visitors.
The NPS report estimates that 92 percent of the spending attributed to the Harpers Ferry park is from non-local visitors. The study details are available online in interactive format (click here).
Contact Info For Senators and Representatives
Attendees at the Harpers Ferry event were encouraged to contact West Virginia’s Senators and Representatives in Congress to express their concerns. West Virginia has two US Senators and two members of Congress:
Senator Shelly Moore Capito
- Mail: 170 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0001
- Phone (Washington): 202-224-6472
- Fax (Washington): 202-224-7665
- Phone (Charleston): 304-347-5372
- Website/email contact form (click here)
Senator Jim Justice
- Mail: 306 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4804
- Phone (Washington): 202-224-3954
- Fax (Washington): 202-228-0002
- Phone (Charleston): 304-342-5855
- Fax (Charleston): 304-343-7144
- Website/email contact form (click here)
Representative Riley Moore (District 2)
- Mail: 1337 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515-0001
- Mail: 739 Winchester Ave, Martinsburg, WV 25401-2103
- Phone (Washington): 202-225-2711
- Fax (Washington): 202-225-7856
- Phone (Martinsburg): 304-350-6987
- Website/email contact form (click here)
Representative Carol Miller (District 1)
- Mail: 465 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-0001
- Mail: 3 Tennessee Avenue. Charleston, WV 25302-2320
- Phone (Washington): 202-225-3452
- Fax (Washington): 202-225-7564
- Phone (Charleston): 681-945-6556
- Fax (Charleston): 771-200-5704
- Email (constituent services): Nicolas.Gray@mail.house.gov
- Website/email contact form (click here)