NOTE: In February, the Trump administration fired approximately 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees and 1,000 National Park Service employees, including wilderness rangers and trail crew members across the country. Some wilderness rangers reached out to Wilderness Watch to share their stories and concerns about the impact to Wilderness.
The following essay details one wilderness ranger’s experiences during the 2025 season.
Wilderness Watch has authenticated the wilderness ranger’s identity, but we are publishing this story anonymously to protect their identity and to help prevent potential repercussions. The images in this story are unrelated to where the wilderness ranger works.
I’m a quarter mile into my hike when the tears start to fall. I can’t control them these days. I’m at work, wearing my uniform, and I do not want to be crying right now. I briefly contemplate walking into the bushes and breaking down for a few minutes. I pull my sunglasses over my eyes and keep walking, wiping away the tears as they continue to fall. This is my new normal. Anxiety, sadness, and anger are my constant companions.
I am a wilderness ranger. I work for the USDA Forest Service. I do not work for the National Park Service. I am not a park ranger.
This is probably a familiar tale by now. I was fired in what is known by federal employees as the Valentine’s Day Massacre. Thousands of us were fired by the Trump administration under false and sweeping claims of poor performance. After weeks of stress and frustration, a court ruled in favor of our reinstatement. I returned to my job. I was expecting a summer of hard work and camaraderie with my coworkers. We had all been through something harrowing together, but now we were stronger and more united. Declarations of “hold the line” gave me hope.
May 2025: Staffing
Shortly after I returned to work, “DOGE” rolled out the deferred resignation program, or “DRP.” Agree to resign now, and get paid to do nothing until the end of September. Public lands employees often live paycheck to paycheck. Housing and health insurance are connected to seasonal jobs. This is not a group of people who can afford to ride out financial uncertainty. When the battered Forest Service staff was offered a stable-looking exit ramp, so many people took it. This was the real blow to the agency.
I do not judge my fellow Forest Service employees for leaving, but I do miss them.
July 2025: Passing the torch
I sit beside my mentor on the shore of a large lake. To start the morning admiring the reflection of the peaks is a tradition of this particular hitch. My mentor took the DRP and will retire at the end of it. They are not supposed to be here, but I appreciate they have come along to help me out. My mentor points to various spots around the valley and shares quick stories of their adventures. Stewarding this Wilderness has been their entire career. I have wanted to follow in their footsteps for some time, but not like this. This will be their last hitch as a Forest Service employee. We part ways, and my mentor heads toward the trailhead. The torch has been passed. I walk slowly down shore and deeper into the Wilderness. I am the only one left now. Tears fall, and I feel the weight of everything, heavier than my loaded backpack.
July 2025: Public contacts
I have just finished a strenuous and waterless day on a trail that climbed and descended relentlessly. Perhaps this was an ambitious early season hitch, as I don’t have my trail legs yet. After setting up my tent, I grab my shovel and trash bag and start my rounds. Some micro-trash, but no fire rings. I notice a tent set up on the vegetation right by the water, despite the empty campsites all around. I approach and ease into a conversation about Leave-No-Trace and camping on durable surfaces. They agree to go check out the other sites.
In the morning the tent hasn’t moved. I am irritated now. I gave them all the information, and they still chose to cause this damage? I mentally prepare myself to be firm. I hate confrontation.
“There were a lot of other good campsites last night. Why did you stay on the vegetation?”
“Well, we could see another tent from those other sites.”
We are at a popular lake, on a weekend, just a few miles from a trailhead, in one of the busiest Wilderness areas in the region. I was the other tent they could see. The camper continues to list excuses. I tell them again to move their stuff. Finally, the second camper apologizes and agrees to move. It is obvious the first camper doesn’t agree and will do the same thing again.
This was once a place one could expect the level of solitude they were seeking. While we should all mourn that loss, we must also calibrate our behaviors to the current situation. A person’s experience is not more important than the longevity of these places.
July 2025: Volunteers and partners
“He yelled at you in the parking lot?”
I am standing with the lead of a volunteer trail crew as they explain to me that the lead from a different organization accosted them in the parking lot. The yelling crew lead is apparently mad that this crew is working on the same trail. He is worried they will “take all the crosscut work.”
The Forest Service higher-ups have been preaching that we need to lean on our non-profit partners, and I am trying.
The yelling crew lead has accused me of repeatedly depriving his crew of logs to crosscut . I do not have the energy for this again. The Forest Service trail crews are gone. After logs are cut, there are hundreds of trail drains to clean and tons of brush to trim back. There is so much trail maintenance that fighting over it is almost comical.
Later, I find out the yelling crew lead canceled a trip on a 20-mile stretch of trail deep in the Wilderness. Now the maintenance falls on me. A few years ago, an avalanche brought down 300 logs and took two seasons to clear. Two years ago, a complex pile of massive logs turned into a two-day project for a crew of six. When trails aren’t maintained, trails become wider as visitors avoid downed trees and erosion increases. Vegetation gets trampled as users climb around obstacles.
Many dedicated volunteers and partner organizations work alongside the Forest Service staff. Every one of those partnerships requires attention, and coordinating their work is a full-time job. I am already trying to cover the work of several full-time jobs.
Volunteerism ebbs and flows. People are enraged by what is happening to their public lands and want to help right now. If volunteers can step up for now and complete some of the work previously done by Forest Service crews, the trails will limp along. When the situation is no longer newsworthy, or as times get harder for everybody, who will do the work? Some tasks, like dealing with human waste, are more than most volunteers want to take on.
August 2025: Toilets
I started the day at a remote alpine lake. There, I plucked 16 cigarette butts out of a fire ring, dismantled four other fire rings, and packed out a substantial bag of trash. The only way to the lake is a scramble across a rocky slope. A 1990s map classifies the area as “pristine” and “trail-less.” The fragile alpine environment is closed to campfires.
It is now 3:45pm as I walk towards a larger lake and into the camp frequented by long-distance backpackers. I see toilet paper everywhere as I follow the signs to the pit toilet. The smell hits me before I arrive. I tentatively open the lid to see human waste and toilet paper overflowing from the ground. The mess is halfway up the wooden box that serves as a seat. I curse and look longingly at the ridge far above me where my tent sits. I read all the trip reports, and no one mentioned this toilet was full! If this lake was more accessible to a trailhead and not nestled in a remote valley, the day hikers and overnight backpackers would have complained about this. While it is next to a popular trail, the long-distance backpackers float on to their next destination and seem to have forgotten about the abhorrent toilet by the time they next pass cell service. More likely they never made it to the toilet, judging by the toilet paper lining the trail on the way in.
It is time to dig a new pit toilet. I pull on my nitrile gloves and carefully pull the wooden seat off the heaping pile of waste. I work quickly and try not to gag. I upend the seat in the sun, hoping that will do something about the disgusting state of the lower boards.
I look for an opening away from any trees to encounter fewer roots. I grab my shovel and sink the blade into the ground. The clink of metal on rock is not the sound I was hoping to hear. I try again a few inches away and find success. I keep digging for the next hour, throwing shovelfuls of dirt atop the heaping, stinking pile a few paces away. I loosen small rocks and lay on my stomach to remove them from the ground. When the old toilet hole is fully buried, the smell becomes bearable again. Hopefully the human waste will break down and the ground above it will flatten out over time. This is the third toilet I have dug this year, and I know I have two more that will fill before the season ends.
In a normal year, multiple wilderness rangers would have been here way before August. I would dig one or two toilets and share the workload with other rangers. Will I ever know a year like that again? I’m told, “don’t do more with less,” but I can’t just let pit toilets overflow.
I reinstall the toilet seat on the new hole and have stabbed as much loose toilet paper as I can with a long stick. I begin to climb the dozens of switchbacks back to camp. Dispatch will probably call me on the radio soon since I was supposed to check out a few minutes ago, but I am still more than an hour from my camp.
A backpacker appears and I start my Leave-No-Trace spiel. I put extra emphasis on packing out toilet paper. She starts to leave but turns back to ask if I actually meant she should take the toilet paper with her. My conversation with this one hiker is not going to make a difference. I could stand on this spot and tell every hiker that passes me all week to pack out their toilet paper, and it still wouldn’t make a difference. I smile and assure her that packing it out is what I meant.
September 2025: Overuse
I feel like I have been embedding rocks the entire hitch. Somehow it is already Labor Day weekend and I am on my first trip to one of the busiest wilderness sites on my district. I arrived to find lots of new “brown out” in development. Flat-ish ground that was once covered with heather and huckleberry shrubs is now only a thinning layer of grass between patches of bare dirt. The grass won’t survive much longer if people keep camping on it. I embed rocks in the dirt to discourage tents. I complete the scene with some logs that were almost too heavy to move and a tiny sign stating, “restoration area, please camp elsewhere.” It’s far from natural, but maybe this patch will escape the fate of the surrounding sites.
I repeat the process at a smaller lake. As I work, I greet incoming parties and point them toward vacant camps, repeating some variation of “camp on durable surfaces.” The last campsite has filled as I climb out of the basin. Why is everyone coming to this tiny lake that is usually so quiet?
Half an hour down the ridgeline, I can see my camp at a lower lake. I can also see nearly 100 people scattered along the shoreline, and I’m sure I hear music. I mentally prepare myself to descend into the chaos.
A group of 12 appears, the maximum size for a wilderness party. It is 5pm on a holiday weekend. They share that they are headed to the small lake I recently departed. I suggest they head towards the larger lake in the opposite direction. “We will just go beyond that lake to the tarns.” I cringe and explain that there is no place for 12 people to camp at the “trail-less” tarns. They seem unmoved by my explanation and annoyed at my suggestion that they change their plans. I continue down the hill, and some trail runners pass me returning from the larger lake. They didn’t see the group of 12.
October 2025: Slowing down
There is a layer of snow in the mountains, and darkness comes early. Solitude can be found again, wrapped in the harsh and protective blanket of winter. The Wilderness can rest for a while.
November 2025: Looking ahead
They will not replace me if I leave. I have to hope that by staying I can be the bridge to the next generation of wilderness rangers.
Our Wilderness areas are invaluable and precious. Our public lands are a privilege and a responsibility. If we destroy or sell off these resources, we will never get them back.
If we keep treating these wild spaces as bucket-list destinations and provide no resources to care for them, we may lose the very thing that makes them special. We must all demand better for our Wilderness and our public lands. This fight is just getting started.
Photos, from top: Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana by Howie Wolke; Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, Colorado by Kyle Alcorn
61 Comments
My family comes from a long line of FS & Firefighter history. THEY Started out in the the 1800’s in the Los Padres National Forest. My husband’s family came to that area in the 1890’s. My husband’s Aunt Dorene was a Fire Lookout. He & his cousin were FS Ranger’s & Firefighters. My son’s were FS Ranger’s & Firefighters. They also used mules to pack things in & out of the backcountry as needed.
Management or lack thereof has created a No Win situation for people in your situation. The folks sitting in their ivory towers have No Clue how to do their jobs correctly.
Thank you for your service and may we pray for better leaders in the future. Our family feels your pain.
This has been happening since the late 60’s & early 70’s. The folks in management in their ivory towers have No Clue what their doing. They keep pulling resources and asking for volunteers. The work that needs to get done never happens!! It’s a setup to fail process that has gone unchecked for far too long….and it needs to change.
I work as a local news journalist and professional writer and enjoyed your account thoroughly. Thank you for sharing.
I can relate to your story. I have been a volunteer wilderness ambassador in the San Juan weeminuche wilderness. 99% of the people I encounter know good wilderness behavior. Its the 1% that insist on having a campfire and camp right next to creeks. I guess we’re heading for rec.gov permits for high impact areas. Designated camp sites. This is so against the wilderness idea but, we are loving wilderness to death
Thanks for your lonely dedication. I fear the Wilderness Act will be revoked along with wilderness being degraded on the ground.
I’m old and crippled, so I can’t pack out trash any longer. In the old days, it seemed most backpackers showed their appreciation by joining active conservation groups to pressure Congress. I salute volunteers who help with trail maintenance, but that isn’t enough. People who care must organize and scream bloody murder.
So many Humans are so ignorant of their effect in fragile environments . Some just don’t care! Thank God for You wilderness Rangers!
Thank you for your service!
I live on an island with several National Parks and in February our local rangers were faced with the tough decisions you described. Several chose to retire early and our parks would have been left without adequate staffing. Our local volunteer organization advertised for anyone willing to go through some basic training and education and volunteer time at the parks. I did so and although I am quick to point out that I’m a volunteer, I am proud to wear a park service uniform and spend time informing visitors about the natural wonders of one of our local national parks. I would prefer my position be filled by a NP professional but until it can be I will do what I can to protect the one I treasure in my home.
Thank you for what you do. I’m sorry that it’s come to this.
May all those working to protect wilderness for future generations have healthy, regenerative winters just as the land !
Thank you for your caring and hard work. It saddens me to think of the current administration and all the damage they have inflicted on our earth and those who care for it. Hoping this sorrowful dark time passes quickly and those who care are back in charge. ❤️ 🌲 🌻 ☀️
I want to give you and each of your colleagues a huge hug. Thank you for doing all you can to protect our public lands in these desperate times. It is unfathomable what this administration is doing to destroy our wilderness, our national parks, wildlife, rivers, forest and workers that are dedicated to their profession and protection of these places. I hope things will change in 2026 & 2028 with elected officials that values our national treasure and believes in people and science. Just as infuriating is the carelessness of visitors that have a ‘me mentality’ and trash these places or do not listen to our rangers. The constant outdoors businesses that push more and more stupid people out in wilderness is a crime. They don’t bother to educate people on the damage they cause; they are only in it for the mighty dollar. I pick up trash daily at the local park when I walk my dogs and I’ve done it at any local or national park I visit.
Dear Brother Ranger,
Sadly, I feel your pain having experienced it myself for 29 years as a ranger with the National Park Service. All our brothers and sisters who proudly wear the uniform of service do it as a calling because of our love for this nation’s amazing and blessed natural and cultural resources. I admire your continued efforts to serve during these incredibly difficult times. Unfortunately, an era of purposeful neglect by legislators has taken hold whereby rangers are constantly told to do more with less, while those making these policies seem to get more while doing less—except for continuing policies that deplete the work force and exasperate the declining conditions in our parks.
I feel your frustration with park guests who sadly will not abide by park rules apparently not understanding that the rules are meant to protect them and the park for the enjoyment of all; not just for today but also for future generations.
I will continue to write and petition my congressional representatives to plead for enlightened legislation to provide more funding for park rangers and park maintenance. I know there are days when depression sets in as you feel like you are fighting a losing battle, however, every effort you make does bear fruit; it may only be for one person that day or, hopefully, for many others. God bless you for your service, your commitment to do what is right, and for holding down the fort until reinforcements arrive—sadly, it could be a long wait, but keep the faith. Thank you for your message, which I hope may have a positive impact on those who need to hear it.
Thank you for bringing this to light for people. It is a well written article/essay.
Thank you so much for your work. Years ago, I never encountered those thoughtless hikers in the North Cascades. Times have certainly changed.
All of this information enlightened me. I had no idea of what rangers came up against. Although I’ve never camped far out in the wild, I would always respect nature. Just knowing that it’s there fills me with wonder. We have to stop tRump from desecrating our lands.
This is one of the saddest and most distressing things I’ve read in quite some time.
Heart-rending–what it portends for the future of Wilderness.
If natural areas of public lands are not funded well enough to adequately supervise them, they should be closed to the public. The priority should be ecosystems, habitats, and the native life there, not visitors.
As to the comments about visitor behavior in these areas, that’s getting to the heart of the problem. Humans have shown that they’re irresponsible when it comes to the natural environment and the nonhuman life there, so rules and their strict enforcement are necessary. Humans need to evolve mentally and spiritually so that rules and enforcement aren’t necessary, but until then they are.
Reading this made me sad. Too many people do not realize how fragile these areas can become with overuse. We are, indeed, poor stewards of our planet.
A dedicated worker doing a very hard job that must be overwhelming at times is so heartwarming and I’d like to thank this person and everyone who unjustly lost the jobs they truly cared about-America needs people of your caliber that stand up to Authoritarianism. Please know you are appreciated.
Excellent article. I was a volunteer wilderness steward in the Mount Hood, Hatfield and Salmon-Huckleberry wildernesses (Oregon) 20 years ago when visitor impacts really started to get serious. Working with three full time wilderness rangers, we struggled to cope. I shudder to think what the situation is now, with even more people in those areas, and fewer full time wilderness rangers. There is only so much that volunteers can do.
What has happened since this new administration took office is so disheartening. For 25-years, I have signed petitions to protect these incredible wilderness areas. Since January 20th, protections are gone and my heart is having a difficult time knowing that the destruction will continue. I hope and pray that those that are continuing to do everything in their power to protect these areas will have success with volunteer organizations pitching in to help. We were given one beautifully incredible planet, and we, as humans, it is our responsibility to protect it. A huge thank you to all who are doing just that!!! You are heroes and angels!!!!!
Amen.
December 2025: Message gratefully acknowledged.
Beautiful, heartbreaking writing. Thank you for your love and concern for our amazing, healing public lands. I am deeply grateful for you and the folks like you who care.
Thank You for Everything You Do. You are an Awesome Human.
Gratitude and Peace, from Maryland!
Donald is unfit for any position requiring intelligence.
He is not an authentic POTUS.
Thank You!
Lots of Gratitude, to ALL of You, who work so diligently!
Peace, from Maryland.
I started to cry reading this. I’m devastated this is happening to America. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you for your hard work and passion, it’s tragic. I used to do the same kind of work in Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and Grand Teton. Visitor numbers are skyrocketing and paid positions are being replaced with front country volunteers. I hope you’ll be supported and able to keep working.
You are making a difference, please hang in there, the Wilderness is a better place because of you. I wish the Forest Service would prioritize the work of Wilderness Rangers instead of the logging industry.
Thank u for ur devotion to the places I love.
Thank you, anonymous Ranger, for sharing your story. My heart aches for you and all those who work so diligently to maintain our wilderness areas. You are appreciated. Hopefully we who revere Nature will make it through to the end of the current regime and will once again have a government with more sensibility and compassion. I pray it won’t be too late to undo the damage.
Mother Earth blesses you.
Lynn
Thank you for your caring and tireless work and for this poignant description of it, for confirming and filling out the details. Once the federal crime bosses have auctioned off those lands for the highest bidders for their network of mansions and fiefdoms, you will probably get a high paying job from them working inside a fenced armed compound if you can stomach that. You would probably rather dig put toilets in hell but that’s where we are headed. at least somebody maybe can convince them not to build fences for the wildlife. You can be a “woodsman” in the king’s forest like in the middle ages! In some tech nerd billionaire’s personal IRL fantasy world! Fun!
Thank you for your work and your heartfelt reporting. May we approach our wild lands with reverence.
Totally agree, the recklessness is extremely disheartening. Thank you for the work you do. This administration is an abomination stacked with the worst our country has, terrible not just for wildlife, but for every corner of our society and beyond it. It must end. Vote, people. Vote while it still matters, before they succeed in taking that privilege from us. Talk to people, show by example, donate to causes that work to right the wrongs, demonstrate, volunteer, do whatever you can and don’t give up. This is the fight of our lives.
Wow, this story was incredibly moving. It’s devastating to observe the struggle of our park and national forest rangers, you are environmental legends. I admire your resilience.
It’s a major disappointment to observe fellow campers and hikers not following the leave-no-trace rule; it’s down right infuriating.
Our current administration has made a massive mistake and a plundering mess of our forest services. Through my personal nature endeavors, I have been taking out trash and spreading leave-no-trace knowledge to those who will listen.
I hear and support you, good sir. Stay strong and positive. It will be one of the hardest struggles, but I believe in you. A new leader will rise, one who values the environmental future of our planet. Until then, be patient and continue onward. It’s the riotous path.🌲🌳🌏🍃🌱
I’m an elementary art teacher, I regularly teach my students the beauty and value of Mother Nature, we include her in our art projects:)
To Veronica Nelson: It’s the “righteous”, not “riotous,” path.
I’m retired 10 years now! Having worked in Wilderness and trails from January “83” to end of 2015. I saw ups and downs in the numbers of users depending on the wilderness unit I worked in. But one thing I noticed even after retirement was the increased use in the backcountry after COVID. I’m glad that folks are using their public lands but also understand that without management what we love most will be lost thru lack of food quality staffing on the ground to monitor use and educate users. After returning I continued to volunteer by helping out in trail maintenance. Going out with a well organized partnership with the FS multiple times each summer.
Tell us what we can do to help out. I like to think I’m available as well as able, but I also want the public to raise an outcry regarding what is being lost.
You can’t do and shouldn’t do more that you can, the public must sound a vocal outcry!
We admire your great work ethic, your hard and careful work, including all your efforts to teach the publc, and just your GUMPTION to “soldier on!”
Keep up the great job as long as you can!
You WILL be that bridge to new trail rangers!!!
Thanks to the ranger for a moving and informative essay of days on the trail in an anonymous wilderness. A heartfelt thanks to the ranger, too, for describing so clearly and bluntly what it takes to care for some of the wildest lands we have left in the country. Your work is so important to all people whether they know it or not. These places, and so many others, are critical to preserve in their natural state so we can have some measure of sanity in our fast changing world. I just finished walking the Pacific Crest Trail after a 45 year gap. So much has changed between 1980, when I hiked most of the trail, and 2025, when I finished Northern California. While the numbers of hikers and their gear contrast sharply over this time span, it was the scale of fire-scarred land that was most arresting. There are so many issues to address on our public lands, including wilderness. Thanks so much to the ranger for his/her dedication to keeping the land as wild as possible. People like you make a huge difference! Please remember that.
I share your sadness over the loss of pristine natural areas and the new disregard.
Thank you for caring and for your devotion to the environment.
Like so much about the world… the respect is disappearing and selfishness abounds.
Sounds like it can be a arduous, exasperating endeavor at times dealing with the terrain and unthinking people and campers who don’t always follow the rules. Thank you to those rangers with the dedication and love of wilderness to carry on.
Thank you so much for opening this window into the experience of a dedicated Forest Service ranger. Even in the best of times this has to be so challenging. This essay taught me that it is really important to see how important it is to treat nature with respect and not just think of our time in nature as another way to have fun or we will contribute to the destruction of the beautiful wild places. I am grateful for both your writing and your dedication.
Your soulful story breaks my heart. I camped southern California mountains & desserts with a group of 7 – 8 friends for 20 years, appreciating every moment, leaving our sites cleaner than we found them. Your dedication is appreciated by me. This administration is harmful to our existence. Blessings!
Thanks for all you are doing to fight this horrible administration’s reckless handling of our precious, beautiful parks, forests & other lands which rely on competent, caring & science based decisions! We love these natural areas & they need our protection!
Thank you for sharing – it is heartbreaking to think of our wild places treated so poorly, and as the pressure increases, to have them abandoned to the very few keepers is a take of woe. Woe for us, woe for good people who dreamed as kids to become rangers and woe for the precious nature that we need more desperately than ever, but that needs us to let it be
Heartbreaking! 💔💔
I’m so thankful for all the rangers who are out there trying to make a difference. I’m sorry there are so many people abusing our public lands and being so disrespectful of astounding places.
I knew that this would happen when the administration “fired” hard working people. They care nothing for the environment. Wilderness needs to be protected at every turn. When I go to local preserves and beaches, I continually pick up trash and have been doing it for years. The most toxic trash comes first. I never understand this mentality of despoiling any environment. People who love the wild will push on until this “dictatorship” is gone. Many will suffer along the way. I know Wilderness Watch will keep on ……….
This is very sad, and something I didn’t know anything about. When you hear about these massive layoffs, no one reports the devastation that will result. This government certainly doesn’t care. Please find ways to get this story more widely distributed.
Stay strong. This horrible nightmare of an administration will fall sooner than later. Thank you for what you do!
Thank you for your courageous service and your words of wisdom. I am not a hiker or camper but I have worked with the public and have a small understanding of what you face. I stress ‘small understanding’. Your devotion should be celebrated.
Thank you for this very illuminating – and somewhat heartbreaking – piece. How sad that with eons of evolution and our giant brains, it seems that humankind’s most enduring qualities are selfishness and stupidity.
Only 1125 days to be free of all this madness! We will return to the happier times and care for Mother Earth.
There is not enough “thank you” for the work you do.
Insightful and very sad. Humans demand their needs met at any cost. Thank you for sharing your personal insights, feelings and knowledge. Be well
Your work is so valuable. I an heartbroken that we as a country have so lottle concern for wildlife, wild areas and the people who maintain them. I continue to advocate and vote. Please remember many of us honor and respect your work
Bless you for wanting to be the “bridge” for the next generation. Hopefully, when we get out of our current administration a new administration will arrive that will care about our wilderness lands and protect them for generations to come.
Thank you for your dedication to wilderness! I feel for you, and wish I were young enough to be a volunteer. Unfortunately, our population has grown to an unsustainable size, and many people are still the same as always… selfish and uncaring. Sadly, unless constantly monitored those are the groups that will decimate everything.
A true hero! Too many people don’t recognize the importance of protecting our natural world for future generations. Hopefully the current disaster will be short lived, and those protecting our world will be able to get back to it.