'Catastrophic': Experts warn DOGE cuts could mean national parks end up in private hands

The ongoing effort by President Donald Trump's administration to lay off thousands of federal workers and slash agency budgets may pave the way to the privatization of the United States' national parks.

That's according to a Wednesday article in the Arizona Republic, which reported on the effect of Trump's cuts to the Department of the Interior in particular. According to the Republic, many of the hundreds of millions of acres of public land could end up being purchased by private individuals and groups in the future. This includes land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Matthew Nelson, who is the executive director of the Arizona Scenic Trail Association, told the paper that he has lately been getting "ghosted" when reaching out to federal officials, and attributed that to severe staffing shortages and an atmosphere of chaos inside the DOI.

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"When I look behind the veil, what I'm seeing is an attempt to make federal land management agency jobs even harder to fill, getting rid of people, and then being able to show that the agency is unable to care for these lands, and it would be better in the hands of private interests," Nelson said.

The Trump administration's agenda to shrink federal budgets is being spearheaded by centibillionaire South African tech CEO Elon Musk, who unofficially leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Ethan Aumack, who is the executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust, told the Republic that the scope of DOGE's cuts could end up undermining the DOI's management of national parks. He added that this could provide an opening for privatization.

"It is entirely predictable that if you dismantle systems for responsibly managing public lands, causing a collapse in responsible land management, a case can and will be made to privatize those lands,” Aumack said. “Which would be catastrophic."

Advocates have warned against privatization of national parks in the past for various reasons. Chief among their concerns is that private ownership could make admission too pricey for the general public to enjoy. However, conservationists add that replacing federal park rangers with private employees could also endanger conservation efforts, as their replacements may not be as knowledgeable about how to preserve valuable ecosystems.

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