Trump’s 'steep cuts' are putting national parks on an 'unsustainable and dangerous path'

01 September

aerial view of trees near mountain

Although President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" includes $75 billion in additional funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many other federal government agencies are being aggressively defunded by the second Trump Administration — from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the National Weather Service (NWS) to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). And Trump has flirted with the idea of eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) altogether.

Another agency that is experiencing mass layoffs is the National Parks Service.

In an article published on Labor Day 2025, The New York Times' Eileen Sullivan reports that "at least one-fifth of the country's 433 parks have been significantly strained and understaffed because of steep cuts mandated by the Trump Administration, according to internal government data obtained by The New York Times."

"Staffing at the National Park Service had been steadily shrinking in the past decade because of tightened budgets," Sullivan explains. "But it has lost 24 percent of its permanent employees since President Trump took office, according to data compiled by the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. Among those who left: more than 1800 park workers who accepted the (Trump) Administration's resignation initiatives, devised to quickly reduce the size of government."

Sullivan notes that although the Trump Administration directed all national parks to remain open, "internal" data from the U.S. Interior Department shows that "more than 90 national parks reported problems between April and the end of July stemming from departures, cuts and a hiring freeze."

"Routine tasks like cleaning and stocking the bathrooms have gone undone," Sullivan reports. "Fewer rangers have given tours and lectures. Visitor centers have reduced hours. And parks have lost millions of dollars because they are unable to staff entrances and collect visitor fees."

Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, fears that the worst is yet to come for the National Parks Service.

Francis told the Times, "Budget cuts and staff reductions have set our national parks on an unsustainable and dangerous path. Some of the impacts of the staff cuts are visible to the public, but many are not yet. And all of this is only going to get worse."

Read Eileen Sullivan's full New York Times article at this link (subscription required).

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