More than a year after the Trump administration laid off around 1,000 National Park Service employees, America's cherished public lands are straining under severe staff shortages while record crowds flood through gates where timed-entry systems were recently dismantled. Rangers now scrub toilets instead of conducting research. Bears are being put down because there aren't enough staff to prevent tourists from feeding them. And at least 30.5% of revenue from park entrance fees has been redirected to Washington, D.C. projects this fiscal year—including $8 million of a $14 million budget for President Donald Trump's revamped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Federal law limits such diversions to 20% of collected fees. The overage means less money for parks already facing a $24 billion maintenance backlog, where roads have been closed for as long as five years with no progress.
Public Funds, Private Vanity
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." Garder also raised concerns about "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 defended the spending, saying in a statement the 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 department said it "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." It didn't respond to requests for comment on staffing strain, crowding impacts, or effects on local businesses.
Money is so tight that buying toilet paper requires layers of approval. Jane, an NPS employee who requested anonymity, said her 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. Some rangers at her park have had to take on custodial work because staffing levels are so low.
Researchers Cleaning Toilets
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's heard from friends who are park rangers that some who typically work as researchers are now doing janitorial work. "They have gone from working in their specialization that they are skilled for and trained for to literally cleaning your sh*t," he said. "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."
Alex, another 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. "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 said. "It's hard to keep people."
Sam, a pseudonym for a national park ranger, said staffing levels are around 60% at their park, forcing employees in positions like human resources and maintenance to work at fee booths. "When it comes to being demoralized, the shuffling around of park rangers and consolidating them, that's really stripped a lot of rangers of their identity," Sam said. Staff now live in fear that they'll lose their jobs and are encouraged to take early retirement or buyout opportunities.
Wildlife Pays the Price
The staff shortages have led to more people feeding animals at parks and leaving behind food that wildlife pick up. Alex said, "Bears have been really bad this summer. 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."
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. "The squirrels are getting fat," she said. "God, a squirrel with a baguette just ran by."
The removal of timed-entry reservation systems at some parks has created chaos for local businesses and visitors alike. Yosemite has boasted a 12% rise in visitation this year. Barton said the July Fourth holiday weekend showed crowding, while weekdays are empty, and that the reservation system had previously spread visitation out more evenly. "The weekends are untenable," she said. "The valley is functionally inaccessible" because it's so busy. The sudden rollout of the changes didn't give guides or park rangers time to prepare. "It reduces the ability to have long-term employment," she said.
Expanded Hunting, Slashed Access
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.
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. "We're looking at being in survival mode from now until the end of this administration," he said. "This administration has not been good for tourism."
Morale in Free Fall
Sam said some NPS staff have been "getting snappy" with park visitors more often because they feel overwhelmed. "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," Sam said. Sam has worked at national parks through several administrations, including the first Trump administration, and said that while there were issues then, the last 18 months have been worse. "It's just completely upsetting," Sam said. "Infuriating."
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. 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."
Why This Matters:
National parks belong to all Americans—they're public assets built and maintained through generations of collective investment. When entrance fees meant to repair trails and preserve ecosystems are instead diverted to vanity projects in Washington without congressional oversight, it undermines the basic promise that these lands will be protected for future generations. The human cost is immediate: rangers with specialized training are cleaning bathrooms instead of conducting wildlife research, employees are burning out from impossible workloads, and bears are being killed because there aren't enough staff to educate visitors. Local economies that depend on sustainable tourism are being destabilized by chaotic policy rollouts. And when public institutions are deliberately starved of resources while their revenue is redirected without transparency, it erodes the democratic accountability that should govern how shared resources are managed. These aren't just operational problems—they're symptoms of a broader failure to treat public lands as the common inheritance they are.