More than a year after the Trump administration laid off around 1,000 National Park Service employees, national parks are still straining under staff shortages and policy changes from the White House, with rangers, experts and local business owners saying the changes have sent park operations into disarray.
Who Pays for the Mess
Sam, a pseudonym for a national park ranger, said, “It’s just completely upsetting,” and added, “Infuriating.” That anger comes from the ground level, where the people actually keeping the parks running are being asked to do more with less while the administration reshapes access, funding and enforcement from above. Sam said staffing levels are around 60% at their park, forcing employees in positions like human resources and maintenance to work at fee booths. They also said staff now live in fear that they’ll lose their jobs and are encouraged to take early retirement or buyout opportunities.
The parks were already carrying a yearslong maintenance backlog worth more than $24 billion. In several parks, roads have been closed for as long as five years with no progress. Money is so tight that sometimes stocking bathrooms is difficult. Jane, another NPS employee, said buying even a roll of toilet paper for the restroom in her park requires layers of approval because there’s a spending freeze. She said the park nearly ran out earlier this year, which would have forced the restroom to close and left the closest available one for visitors two hours away. Jane also said some rangers at her park have had to take on custodial work because staffing levels are so low.
Alex, a third NPS employee, said employee housing facilities at the park where he works in the Pacific Northwest especially need refurbishing, forcing many permanent staff to commute more than an hour for work. He said, “Burnout amongst those employees is higher and turnover is huge, and we lose a lot of people because they don’t like commuting that far.” He added, “It’s hard to keep people.”
What the Bureaucracy Calls Access
The White House has also changed how the parks function for visitors and wildlife alike. Timed-entry reservation systems were removed at some parks, and tourists are flocking in near record numbers this summer. Yosemite has boasted a 12% rise in visitation this year. Elisabeth Barton, co-founder of Echo Adventure Cooperative, a tour-guide service near Yosemite, said fewer interpretive rangers have led to less enforcement and more people feeding wildlife or leaving trash behind. She said, “The squirrels are getting fat,” and added, “God, a squirrel with a baguette just ran by.”
Alex said staff shortages have led to more people feeding animals at the park and leaving behind food that wildlife pick up. He said, “Bears have been really bad this summer,” and added, “They have been getting into a lot of food this summer, and bears that become problematic have to be put down. I’m worried that we’re going to have to lose some of our bears.” That’s the hierarchy in plain sight: decisions made far from the park floor, while workers and wildlife absorb the damage.
Barton said the removal of timed-entry systems has made business unpredictable. She said, “The weekends are untenable,” and added, “The valley is functionally inaccessible” because it’s so busy. She said the July Fourth holiday weekend showed crowding, while weekdays are empty, and that the reservation system had previously spread visitation out more evenly. She said, “It reduces the ability to have long-term employment,” and said the sudden rollout of the changes did not give guides or park rangers time to prepare.
Money Redirected Upward
A CNN analysis found that so far this fiscal year, the administration has redirected at least 30.5% of revenue from national park fees toward projects in Washington, D.C., including $8 million out of the $14 million budget for President Donald Trump’s revamped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Federal law says only 20% of fees collected at national parks are supposed to go toward free parks, which include D.C. landmarks.
John Garder, a senior director at the National Parks Conservation Association, called the redirection of funds “deeply concerning.” He said, “What adds insult to injury is that there is no transparency as to what projects exactly … [it] is going towards and the projects that will not be happening or are not happening throughout the country as a result of the diversion of those funds.” He also said, “We’re concerned as well about the potential for some of those funds to be used for some of these large construction projects or vanity projects, which again haven’t gone through congressional review, or are not being adhering to the National Historical Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws.”
The Interior Department said in a statement, “The Trump administration is looking at different funding mechanisms for deferred maintenance which include endowment funds and revenue brought in from the sale of park passes. The National Park Service has not only been focused on beautifying the district for the 250th celebrations in our nation’s capital but has also been working on many deferred maintenance projects throughout the country.” The department and the National Park Service did not respond to a separate request for comment on other concerns, including strain on staff, the effects of larger crowds and the impact on local businesses.
Who Gets Squeezed, Who Gets Paid
Under a policy that took effect this year, non-U.S. residents must pay $250 for the annual national park pass, more than triple the standard $80 that U.S. residents continue to pay. Foreign tourists who don’t buy the pass must pay a $100-per-person fee, in addition to the standard entrance fee, to enter 11 of the most-visited national parks.
Appearing on Katie Miller’s podcast, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said, “We’re generating record revenue this year from international and foreign visitors. That is helping us have more money to pay for the deferred maintenance across the country.” McKay Edwards, who owns Moab Springs Ranch outside Arches National Park in Utah, said the percentage of his hotel’s international guests has been cut in half since 2024. He said, “We’re looking at being in survival mode from now until the end of this administration,” and added, “This administration has not been good for tourism.”
The Department of Interior also lifted hunting restrictions at several national parks. At Curecanti National Recreation Area in Colorado, a ban prohibiting weapons from being fired from, toward or across a hiking trail was removed. In Texas’s Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, hunters can now clean their game in public restrooms. In Louisiana’s Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, alligators can be hunted. Barton said, “I really do appreciate the park’s attempt to increase access,” and added, “I just don’t know that they’re actually meeting that goal, at least not from where we’re sitting.”
Mikah Meyer, a National Parks expert and influencer who visited all the National Parks in a three-year trip spanning from 2016 to 2019, said he has heard from friends who are park rangers that some who typically work as researchers are now doing janitorial work. He said, “They have gone from working in their specialization that they are skilled for and trained for to literally cleaning your sh*t,” and added, “I’ve got friends that work all over the park system in tons of different states and territories, and I’m hearing the same thing from all of them.”
Sam said some NPS staff have been “getting snappy” with park visitors more often because they feel overwhelmed. Sam said, “It’s really hard to keep a calm, nice face when you’re under those circumstances, and you still have a public that expects you to be completely at their service.” Tim Whitehouse, the executive director at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said he is in touch with many NPS employees and that the past year has been “devastating for them.” He said, “These things that are needed to keep any huge organizational footprint working are not being supported and funded,” and added, “That can be maintenance workers, that could be people collecting fees, it can be trail maintenance – all of these things are being degraded and people are being asked to step in and try and fill these holes when they may not be able to, may not have the qualifications to do it, or may already have a full-time job elsewhere in the park service.”