Two years after Congress gave the National Park Service an extra $500 million to add hundreds of employees, the agency is struggling to hire them.
Of the 1,418 new workers NPS planned to add with the money from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, only 447 had been onboarded as of May 31, according to a report by the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General. The agency had spent only $21 million of its allocation.
In a “flash report” issued last week, the internal watchdog urged NPS to pick up the pace to avoid losing the money by 2030.
“Given the challenges NPS faces with hiring and filling a large number of positions, there is a potential risk that NPS may not fully execute its hiring plans on time before funds expire,” the report said.
