STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

What We Know

Is the viral Facebook post from an Education Park Ranger named Brian Gibbs who says he was fired from the National Park Service on Valentine's Day legitimate? Here's what we know so far: After the Facebook post went viral, online comments cast doubt on the story because the Facebook profile it appeared on seemed to be relatively empty and a LinkedIn bio only showed Gibbs working for the National Park Service until 2017. Lead Stories looked into these claims and found recent references to Gibbs in connection with the National Park Service, including several 2024 photos. Gibbs confirmed to us by email he started working there again in 2024.

The original Facebook post (archived here) was published on February 14, 2025. It opened:

I am absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated to have lost my dream job of an Education Park Ranger with the National Park Service this Valentine's Day.
Access to my government email was denied mid-afternoon and my position was ripped out from out under my feet after my shift was over at 3:45pm on a cold snowy Friday. Additionally, before I could fully print off my government records , I was also locked out of my electronic personal file that contained my secure professional records.
Please know and share this truth widely:
I am a father, a loving husband, and dedicated civil servant.
I am an oath of office to defend and protect the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.
I am a work evaluation that reads "exceeds expectations."
I am the "fat on the bone."
I am being trimmed as a consequence of the popular vote
I am a United States flag raiser and folder
I am my son's "Junior Ranger" idol
I am of the place where I first told my spouse I loved her
I am a college kid's dream job
I am the smiling face that greets you at the front door
I am your family vacation planner
I am a voice for 19 American Indian cultures
I am the protector of 2500 year old American Indian burial and ceremonial mounds
I am the defender of your public lands and waters
I am the motivation to make it up the hill
I am a generational cycle breaker
I am the toilet scrubber and soap dispenser
I am the open trail hiked by people from all walks of life
I am the highlight of your child's school day
I am the band aid for a skinned knee
I am the lesson that showed your children that we live in a world of gifts- not commodities, that gratitude and reciprocity are the doorway to true abundance, not power, money, or fear.
I am the one who taught your kid the thrush's song and the hawk's cry.
I am the wildflower that brought your student joy
I am the one who told your child that they belong on this planet. That their unique gifts and existence matters.
I am an invocation for peace
I am gone from the office
I am the resistance
But mostly I'm just tired.
I am tired from weeks of being bullied and censored by billionaires
I am tired of waking up every morning at 2am wondering how I am going to provide for my family if I lose my job
I am tired of wiping away my wife's tears and reassuring her that things will be ok for us and our growing little family that she's carrying.
Things are not ok. I am not ok. (This is the second time in under five years a dream job I worked has been eliminated. Now I may need to uproot my FAMILY again.)
Stay present, don't avert your gaze.
Until our paths cross down the trail,
Fare thee well.
Ranger Brian💚

This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sun Feb 16 10:43:06 2025 UTC)

The Facebook profile listed "Elkader, Iowa" as the home town of Brian Gibbs. This led Lead Stories to a LinkedIn profile that listed "Park Ranger" as a job from 2015 to 2017 but listed the current job as "Naturalist" at Fayette County Conservation.

(Source: LinkedIn screenshot taken by Lead Stories Sun Feb 16 10:49:25 2025 UTC)

The Fayette County Conservation website (archived here) lists an address in Elgin, Iowa, and says it manages multiple parks and trails. Their about page lists their current team members and no "Brian Gibbs" was shown at the time this article was being written. However, an archived copy of the page captured by The Internet Archive on June 23, 2023, does list him as an "Interpretive Naturalist" and "Education Director":

(Source: Archive.org copy of Fayette County Counservation about page screenshot taken by Lead Stories Sun Feb 16 10:56:13 2025 UTC)

His name did not appear in subsequent archived copies of the page in question.

The organization also published an article authored by him in 2021 (archived here) and presented him as the "Naturalist/Environmental Education Coordinator for Fayette County" in a 2021 Facebook post (archived here).

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken by Lead Stories Sun Feb 16 11:21:16 2025 UTC)

One of the pictures prominently featured in Gibbs' Facebook post featured the entrance sign at Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Lead Stories searched Google for pages and documents "Brian Gibbs" and "Effigy Mounds" limited to government websites (archived here). We found a story from the U.S. Geological Survey website (archived here) from November 13, 2024, titled "Harvesting Knowledge: A Recap of the USGS-NPS-Tribal Collaboration at Effigy Mounds National Monument" that describes a "Brian Gibbs" as "NPS staff":

Through funding received by the TESNAR program, USGS scientists Meppelink, Markland, and Tre Kinney met with five tribal partners (Brett Ramey, Zack Towey, and Kate Kyser - Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and John Lee and Celina Hall - Ho Chunk Nation) and NPS staff (Alex Cote', Brian Gibbs, Jeremy Parker, Alexandra Ogdahl, and Devan Matthew) on October 28th to review the partnership program. Discussions were held on sampling procedures, site planning, sampling constituents, and environmental medium considerations, as well as the long-term plan for project results and how they will be practically applied at EFMO and beyond.

(bold highlights added by Lead Stories)

The article also liked to a page titled "Group selfie at Effigy Mounds National Monument" (archived here) dated October 24, 2024, which contains a picture that appears to show Gibbs wearing a National Park Service hat:

(Source: USGS website screenshot taken by Lead Stories Sun Feb 16 11:40:01 2025 UTC)

We also found an old National Park Service page (archived here) that mentions his name in connection with a hike in 2017.

A reader tip led us to re-examine Gibbs' Instagram profile. On July 8, 2024, he posted the picture at the entrance to Effigy Mounds (archived here) accompanied by the text:

🤠After a 7-year hiatus, I'm excited to be back in the flathat working for our National Park Service. As an Education Park Ranger for Effigy Mounds National Monument, I'll oversee the development and presentation of the park's education programs and provide outreach in the region.

This is what the post looked like:

(Source: Instagram screenshot taken by Lead Stories Sun Feb 16 18:32:11 2025 UTC)

So at this point, it looks like he just forgot to update his LinkedIn bio when changing jobs last year.

Reached by email, Gibbs confirmed to Lead Stories he started working for the National Park Service at Effigy Mounds in 2024 after a stint at Fayette County Counservation from 2020 to 2023. This information was confirmed to Lead Stories in an email from a former co-worker at Fayette County Conservation who wrote:

Brian did work for our organization for about 3 years but quit just over 2 years ago. He started working at Effigy Mounds National Monument a little less than a year ago. I know he had previously worked for the NPS sometime before he had come to us as well.

Lead Stories reached out to the National Parks Service by email as well, we will update this story when we receive more information. More tips and information are welcome at [email protected].