Yosemite National Park’s only locksmith, Nate Vince, is no longer employed by the federal government, one of many victims of a recent round of federal government layoffs. Vince had completed a four-year apprenticeship at the park and was just three weeks shy of the end of his one-year probationary period. He also lived onsite and was ordered to vacate employee housing.
“I apprenticed under the previous locksmith the 4 years before his retirement. He had a wonderful career of 23 years with NPS. He said, ‘This is a good job Nate, the park can’t run without a locksmith … do your job well and you’ll always have job.’ Well now 3 weeks short of my probationary period I’ve been fired,” stated Vince on his Instagram post about losing his job in what was a permanent NPS position as Yosemite’s new Locksmith. “I’ve had exemplary performance and am essential for park operations. The people that fired me don’t know who I am, or what I do. They simply don’t understand this park and how big and complex it is.”
He continued, “Yosemite National Park is the size of Rhode Island and has more locks than a small city, and without a locksmith I’m deeply concerned for the safety and security of the park and people in it. This is not right!”
In a Washington Post article, Vince said he was the park’s sole keyholder required him to keep track of the hundreds of keys and locks to the park’s bathrooms, gun safes, administrative buildings and gates.
In total, 2,000 recently hired employees at the U.S. Forest Service and 1,000 National Park Service employees were terminated.
Following are a few of the national articles about Vince:
https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/yosemite-locksmith-fired-20178362.php
https://www.thetravel.com/fears-over-visitor-safety-grow-in-yosemite-as-key-employee-fired/
