The National Park Service fired over 1000 full-time and highly trained employees on February 14, following orders from the Department of Government Efficiency — threatening MTSU’s backpacking and hiking elective.
In light of the dilemma, Professor Johnny Ruhl has no intention to stop teaching.
Ruhl offers MTSU students a close-knit educational experience. His hiking and backpacking course is a 12-week journey to learn outdoor survival skills and concludes with a three-day backpacking trip to one of Tennessee’s many parks.
“I hope everyone that’s taken my class is bothered by this,” Ruhl, who has taught the class for over a decade, said about the mass firings.
The news frustrated Anthony Porter, a former student of Ruhl’s.
“This also further disenfranchises the Appalachian region where people, like our professor Johnny, have the opportunity to teach people invaluable skills that are quickly disappearing from our technology-based culture,” Porter said.
Amid the layoffs, the federal government allowed the National Park Service to hire over 7,000 new seasonal workers, but they now lack enough employees to train them.
Larger parks, like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — which Ruhl himself regularly visits — face overcrowding, littered campgrounds, dirty bathrooms and a lack of emergency-trained staff.
“I think it’s important to all of us that we realize how dependent we are on wild spaces, clean air and clean water,” Ruhl said. “When you have people who aren’t interested in the outdoors but in building economic power, they don’t care about these spaces. Therefore, [the spaces are] in danger.”
Park service lay-offs forced Yosemite National Park to delay summer campground reservations. Rangers at the Grand Canyon warned travelers to prepare for longer lines for park entry.
Even though Ruhl may never see every park himself, he remains weary of the consequences to come if they aren’t cared for.
“Because if we aren’t encouraging people to appreciate the outdoors, then we’re going to lose the outdoors, so yes, I will continue to teach the class,” Ruhl said. “The only reason I would stop is if they tried to tell me what I had to teach.”
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