Stories from the Field of Interpretation: Part 2

This year has been a challenging time for interpreters across the United States. As NAI members shared in the first installment of this article series, released in Legacy’s May/June 2025 issue, recent changes to federal policy have affected interpreters on a personal level, and they have affected the ability of interpretive sites to share messages and protect precious natural and cultural resources.

NAI is committed to advocating at all levels for our members and our field of interpretation. Starting in March 2025, NAI’s leadership is inviting all members to share their stories of the impacts of these changes. The stories you are sharing demonstrate how interpretation and interpreters are on the frontlines of national cuts, legislation, and debates. By sharing these stories (with permission from their authors), NAI seeks to demonstrate the need for support of individual interpreters. Your stories, shared in Legacy Magazine and in other venues, will help NAI advocate for the profession itself.

The stories shared below in this second installment of our series represent only a portion of the experiences shared by NAI members thus far. We anticipate continuing to run this “Stories from the Field of Interpretation” series in additional Legacy issues, as our national situation is rapidly changing and more interpreters are being affected in different ways. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on this short anonymous Google Form or by calling the NAI Main Office at 970-484-8283.

How have you been affected personally by changes to federal policy?

“I'm queer, and I have a trans partner who is being actively affected by changes to things like gender markers and the removal of DEAI initiatives. I'm also on the bargaining unit for my job's union, and everyone is nervous about what the changes in NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) staffing and protections will mean for our ability to advocate for our fellow interpreters.”

“I've lost my dream job. Now, for context I'm still fully employed, at least for the moment. What I lost was a dream that I could continue my career as a GS9 Education Coordinator until retirement. That dream is lost. Now, every week there's a fresh wave of are they going to shut down my site and RIF (Reduction In Force) all the staff. One week the forest supervisor is saying it's probable, the next we're safe, for now…”

“My mental health is dwindling because every day I am asked to go to work and do things that go against my values and beliefs. Due to an executive order, we’ve been forced to take down information from our websites and public-facing materials that included terms like race, gender, ethnicity, environmental justice, underrepresented, and other ‘DEI terms.’”

“I still love what I do, but it feels like something has died. It feels like I'm grieving for a future that's unlikely to come to fruition.”

How has interpretation at your site been affected by changes to federal policy?

“We lost all our summer staff and a permanent staff member. I am the site's purchaser, and my credit card limit has changed to $1—so we can't buy anything.”

“We have cancelled all public programming: Walks, Hikes, Night Hikes. We do one mini-talk a day now. We are required by a director's order to keep all sites open to last year's level, so we are backing off public programming and assisting less in crowd control. Visitation is still going up, but staffing levels are down.”

“Interpretation at our site has been affected by recent layoff changes in a negative way: by simply being unavailable. Important federal and non-federal partnering agencies’ layoffs have affected our ability to bring well-rounded conservation and protection messages to our visitors—specifically at a large annual special event that we host.

This event and our interpretation work is very important in our state given the number of catastrophic fires we have suffered in the last decade. Visitors look forward to participating and seeing these partnering agencies represented, and they will be disappointed that these partners are not there. We are taking on a lot of extra work to try and fill our partners’ spots and content.”

“We’ve had to take entire websites and resources down because they contained words this administration won’t allow.”

“The media is running roughshod over us, vying for stories and not following proper channels. It's all about sensationalism now. We are scrambling for answers for a public who is deeply concerned, and we have no answers ourselves to give them.”

What is one thing you wish more people in general knew about how you have been affected?

“I wish more people knew about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Physical and psychological safety are so important for people to function, much less learn. As interpreters, we know this. But when you have to be afraid that someone is going to bar you from going into a restroom, or scream at you for stating scientific facts, it makes it extremely hard to do your job.”

“These firings don’t just affect the people who were fired: they directly impact the communities in/near these Public Lands, and they also indirectly impact everyone who visits and recreates on Public Lands.”

“We've had plenty of visitors that get choked up and/or shed tears over the situation, especially those that knew the ‘fired’ staff by name—but plenty of others just don't get it. They don't realize volunteers can't run a site without guidance and daily ‘watering’ from a paid employee.

We can't even buy TP for the restrooms. Our credit cards are frozen. We are trying to figure out how to get the state office to order TP for all the sites, but this takes no small amount of time and effort. In the end, just to do this one thing—have enough TP for our visitors—, it will likely cost (including staff time) at least three times the cost of us ordering the TP directly. DOGE is not saving taxpayer money.”

"The biggest thing I hope people will figure out, is that if the staff isn't allowed to take care of the sites, educate visitors, and increase caring and awareness of public places, there will be no public places left for anyone to enjoy.

I'm afraid public parks, places, and lands will be sold to the highest bidder. And the new administration plans to ‘drill baby drill,’ increase timber production, and throw out NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and many other things that help protect these special places.

The country's future landscapes and cultural heritage could be very different. People need nature and history—and the staff that helps these visitors, students, and general public—find their relevance to it and care about it.”

What is one thing you wish your colleagues knew about how you have been affected?

“I am scared for the future of our organizations and for what this means for all of our careers. What we do is important to the future of our world. Without environmental education, people may not understand why protecting the Earth is so important, and our ecosystems will suffer because of that.”

“I am not getting much sleep. How are you all holding up?”

“I have been greatly affected because of an underlying message stopping us from doing our work: we don't matter, our work is not important, and the administration doesn't care about us or the stories we tell, the research we do, and the relationships we have with the public.”

“We aren't going to get through this alone. We need to reach out to our friends, family, and our social network. Dark days are ahead, and the only way we're getting through this is by supporting each other.”

What else would you like to share?

“This is not just about our future as federal employees. We are the guides who teach and inform the public about our nation's natural resources and the opportunities they can have on these resources. We all receive the benefits of our natural resources. The public desires their needs and wants to be met instantaneously. However, they do not often realize, understand, or perhaps care about our dedication to providing accurate interpretive information and education for their benefit. These changes make our future as interpreters uncertain—as well as the future of the public and our natural resources.”

“Resist.”