By Dakota Antelman — [email protected]
The same cuts that led to a worker’s firing last month have put Minute Man National Historical Park in a precarious position just weeks away from its moment in the spotlight, supporters warn.
A pattern of underfunding left the park vulnerable, past superintendents told The Concord Bridge. Recent reductions raised the stakes. With more threats ahead and the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution around the corner, park backers are urging allies to take action.
“This will have ripple effects for a very long time if we can’t reverse the cuts,” state Sen. Michael Barrett (D-Lexington) said in a March 6 interview.
Wave of cuts
Federal cuts included the February 14 firing of a probationary employee at Minute Man, according to Association of National Park Rangers executive director Bill Wade.
The firing was one of roughly 1,000 across the National Park Service system and coincided with a larger wave of cuts throughout the government under President Donald Trump.
B.J. Dunn, who retired as Minute Man superintendent in 2021, said the fired worker was a previous seasonal park ranger and a “great employee.” Dunn said the worker lives locally and Dunn hopes Minute Man can rehire him in a seasonal role “regardless of the inappropriate termination initiated by the Trump administration.”
The NPS confirmed it is hiring seasonal workers but did not respond to questions about the Minute Man firing.
The nonprofit Friends of Minute Man National Park said a hiring freeze and reductions in force “threaten to limit visitor services and put nationally significant cultural and natural resources at risk.”
In a March 3 statement, the Friends urged people to contact their senators or representatives in Congress to express their support.
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan said she was aware of the reported layoff and had been in contact with park leaders. She said she is pushing back against NPS cuts and is committed to keeping Minute Man protected for generations to come.
“These historic sites belong to all of us, and investing in them so families can continue to visit, learn, and enjoy them is a commitment to the public good,” Trahan said in a statement to The Bridge.
‘The harm keeps coming’
Communities around Minute Man expect tens of thousands of visitors for 250th anniversary celebrations next month.
Concord250 Executive Committee co-chairs Rob Munro and Gary Clayton said Minute Man staff continue to be “excellent partners” in preparation efforts. In an email, the pair said they were “disheartened” to hear the park will have fewer staffers.
“We will continue to prioritize our partnership with the park and its programs with, hopefully, no interruption to our commemorations on the Patriots’ Day weekend,” Munro and Clayton said.
Barrett said a “heroic effort” from NPS staff might get Minute Man through April 19 “in OK shape.”
“But we are not going to get through the entirety of the tourist season this year and in 2026 at the rate we’re going,” he said.
He said cuts will erode the park’s ability to run programs and tours and to staff its visitor centers. When facilities close, Barrett said, local businesses will feel the pain. Visitors won’t schedule meals at nearby restaurants. Tour groups could head elsewhere, taking foot traffic with them.
Barrett said that “we have a fighting chance” to reverse course through the political process or the courts.
“[B]ut it’s going to be a very tough battle,” he said.
Incoming threats
Former Minute Man superintendent Nancy Nelson said nothing in her memory compares to the depth of cuts happening at the NPS.
She said the NPS has “never satisfactorily funded the operational needs” at Minute Man and new reductions make the problem “exponentially worse.”
Nelson’s successor, Dunn, managed several NPS sites during his career and said Minute Man was “one of the most severely operationally underfunded” given its size, resources, and visitor operations.
Though one-time federal funding from the first Trump administration improved facilities, Dunn said, the park’s annual budget has “severely eroded,” forcing staffing cuts over the past 20 years.
NPS budget narratives show Minute Man had 28 full time equivalent positions in its base staffing for the 2008 fiscal year. By 2023, that number dipped to 25.
With federal government funding set to expire on March 14, Dunn said any government shutdown would further harm Minute Man, especially on the doorstep of the 250th. He also cited various reports that officials were plotting more cuts.
“I only hope that Minute Man staff will be spared the loss of further permanent staff, but I am fearful for what may be coming,” he said.
Dunn said supporters should ask their members of Congress to help save Minute Man from cuts. He also urged people to join and donate to the Friends.
‘Watch the house’
Nelson’s career spanned multiple presidencies with differing attitudes toward the NPS. When times were tough, she said some staffers left.
“But some people said, ‘I think I’ll hang on to just sort of watch the house,’” she recalled.
This time around, Nelson said she expects some workers will again resolve to “tough it out.”
“I think the commitment in the National Park Service and the resources and the American people will remain strong,” she said.
