Countless winter sports fans made the slog up to Crystal Mountain Resort last Saturday, the temptation of new powder outweighing the multiple hours of traffic some had to sit through.

And right before they turned into the parking lot, they were greeted by the never-ending supply of energy from locals Joni Sensel, Diane Gebenini, Brian Patrick, and eight other demonstrators who braved the cold to show their support for the National Park Service and Forest Service.

On Feb. 14, the federal government fired thousands of Forest Service and National Park Service employees, including Alex Ross and Cameron Schmidt, who worked out of the Forest Service office in Enumclaw taking care of local campsites and trails.

The terminations are also affecting Mount Rainier National Park.

It’s unclear how many employees were fired. According to The Spokesman-Review, six Mount Rainier employees — including the park’s only janitor — were let go, but Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, said 10 employees were terminated.

“We have no idea what those positions are, other than we heard that the park’s only plumber was one of them,” Wade said in an email interview.

And while a federal judge on March 14 ruled that thousands of employees are to be reinstated, it’s unclear if this will affect the local treasure; the National Park Service did not respond to multiple emails or questions about how these terminations will affect park programming or access.

“So far, we’ve heard nothing about how NPS or the Department of the Interior is going to do this, and there is a big question about how many of those employees will actually opt to be reinstated, given the way they’ve been treated and whatever decisions they had to make after they were fired,” Wade continued. “Also, we don’t know how many, if any, more took the ‘fork in the road’ buyout.”

It’s estimated the total outdoor recreation activities offered in Washington state contributes $22.5 billion to the state economy.

Those dollars are seen locally, too.

“Both the National Park and the Forest Service lands are important to our community, both personally… and as a community and business,” Joni Sensel, a Greenwater resident for a quarter of a decade, said in a recent interview. “Our businesses are very dependent on the traffic that goes through Greenwater to get to the national park, or to get to Crystal [Mountain], which is on National Forest Service property, which a lot of people don’t recognize that.

“The recent threats of defunding and eliminating employees… will impact us a lot, and we wanted to be raising awareness of the importance of these areas and of the people who work for them,” she continued.

Diane Gebenini said she is worried that the lack of boots on the ground will erode what makes Mount Rainier National Park a magical place; she said that Sunrise was “trampled” during the August 2023 Perseid meteor shower, and radio station KUOW reported “the park’s wildflower meadows took a beating” that night.

“If we don’t protect it, we lose it,” Gebenini said, adding that many people need education about how to interact with nature — education provided by real people.

The demonstrators agreed that this should be a nonpartisan issue and that most people support the great outdoors.

“While we certainly had a few birds flipped at us, the ratio of honks and thumbs up were much, much higher,” Sensel said. “It was a pretty easy crowd.”

“Most people in the country are in favor…”

“It should be a nonpartisan issue.”