Every year, millions of visitors pass the 17th Ave. train trestle, better known as Graffiti Bridge, on their way from downtown Pensacola to Gulf Islands National Seashore. The bridge has long served as a kind of public canvas for messages of celebration, mourning, and protest.
On Sunday, a new message began to take shape: "Save Our National Parks."
By noon, about 200 protesters had gathered at the bridge, waving homemade signs as passing cars honked in support. They were part of a nationwide movement pushing back against layoffs at national parks from Yosemite to Yellowstone.
More than 1,000 park positions have been cut in recent weeks under a cost-saving initiative led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk. At least seven of those positions were in Pensacola.
Among those affected here was park ranger Phillip Iversen. He grew up at Gulf Islands National Seashore — first as a Junior Ranger, then as an intern, before becoming a full-time park employee. Getting that job was a lifelong dream. Iversen's parents were both rangers and met while working at Dinosaur National Monument.
"It's a family affair," Iversen said. "Up until about a week and a half ago, I was a biological science technician working with nesting shorebirds, sea turtles, invasive plant species — really the whole shebang. Anything in between that needed help. There were only three of us out there, so it really was a shared passion."
That shared passion came to an abrupt end last month when Iversen received an email from someone he'd never met before, informing him that he was being terminated.
"Reducing the deficit is very important," he said, "but I don't want to go back on our morals. I don't want to go around the things that actually matter to people, which are the parks and the seashore. There are ways to do this, but this is not it."
DOGE officials say the layoffs aim to reduce waste and improve efficiency, but Iversen pointed out that his position was funded entirely through damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, not taxpayer dollars. He also worried that indiscriminate cuts would cripple essential services.
"The biologists are the ones that are on the front lines for protecting those natural resources," he said. "We're out there every day in 110-degree weather, trudging through the dunes looking for birds. It's a passionate thing. When you remove that, there's not going to be anybody else there to do that job. So it's a dangerous game that they're playing."
And not only for wildlife. Along with biologists, lifeguard positions have been eliminated at several local beaches. Carolyn Taylor, a supervisor for the Escambia Soil and Water Conservation District, attended the rally out of concern for visitor safety.
"I’m not trying to be a Karen," she said, "but I want to make sure that children, myself, and other families visiting — especially in such a big tourist area — are safe."
Beyond visitors and wildlife, the cuts could also threaten a major economic engine. Jeff Nall, president of Emerald Coast Equality and longtime community advocate, said the financial impact isn’t getting enough attention.
"Here in Pensacola, we talk about tourism dollars," he said. "National parks bring in millions every summer, so why isn’t anyone talking about this?"
In 2023, national parks attracted 325 million visitors, generating $26.4 billion for local economies. That's according to a report from the National Park Service. Gulf Islands National Seashore alone drew 8.3 million visitors, supporting 5,000 jobs and contributing over half a billion dollars in total economic output. With at least seven positions cut, some wonder if that impact can continue.
For Iversen, losing his job isn’t just about personal hardship or economic impact, though — it’s about the kind of country we're leaving behind for our children.
"These are things that transcend just us in this generation," he said. "Posterity is going to be affected. I want my son and grandchildren to be able to come out to these seashores that I enjoyed as a child and see the same flora and fauna and same dune ecosystems that I fell in love with."
