Overcrowded and underfunded: Trump’s cuts to national parks threaten the US’s ‘best idea’
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- National Park Service has lost close to 25% of permanent staff positions since 2025 through mass firings and buyout programs, according to former Obama-era NPS director Jonathan Jarvis, who called it "a troubling time."
- Spending on park projects outside Washington DC has dropped roughly 70% since fiscal year 2026 began in October — an $854 million decrease from the prior year — while spending on the national capital region soared 92%, per an Atlantic investigation.
- Yosemite withdrew its pilot reservation system for peak summer months, and a park-employee union survey found the vast majority of responders condemned the move as Memorial Day traffic jams, overflowing parking lots and long bathroom lines filled the valley.
- US District Judge Angel Kelley ruled on June 12 that the administration's removal of exhibits amounted to "to rewrite the Nation's history with a white-out pen," ordering materials restored before the Fourth of July; the administration has appealed.
- The park system still faces roughly $24 billion in deferred repairs for roads, buildings, utility systems and other infrastructure, according to NPS estimates at the end of the last fiscal year.
- Josue Baires Alfaro, 22, died after being swept over Yosemite's Nevada Fall in June in an incident still under investigation, as the interior department directed parks to stop publicly notifying visitors about injuries and fatalities.
- Beth Pratt, NPCA California regional executive director, warned that rising visitation correlates with bear deaths, adding: "I fear that by the 500th anniversary, Yosemite will just be Half Dome and a parking lot — devoid of life."
Why it matters: Park advocates warn the staffing and funding shortfalls raise the risks of more tragedies — exemplified by the June death at Nevada Fall — while the interior department's instruction to stop reporting injuries leaves 323 million annual visitors with less information as the country marks its 250th anniversary.
