Among the budget cuts proposed during President Donald Trump’s second term in office include cutting the National Park Services’ budget by one-third, and resignation incentives that have led to the departure of nearly 2,000 NPS employees, something that one veteran NPS employee warned could spell disaster for America’s national parks.
“Budget cuts and staff reductions have set our national parks on an unsustainable and dangerous path,” said Phil Francis, who’s worked with the NPS for 40 years, speaking with The New York Times Wednesday. “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.”
Since Trump took office in January, the NPS has lost 24% of its permanent employees, and according to internal data obtained by The New York Times, more than 90% of national parks reported issues between April and August from budget cuts, hiring freezes and staff departures.
The struggles at America’s national parks have led to reduced hours at visitor centers and fewer lectures and tours according to the data, and have even worried some NPS employees worried about visitors’ safety.
“Intercepting unprepared visitors is the best way to reduce search and rescue incidents,” read a recent report from the Joshua Tree National Park in California, which went on to conclude that staff was unable to perform as many “preventative search and rescue” operations as it had in the past.
And the impact felt by understaffing at America’s national parks was felt far beyond California.
“Staffing is definitely an ongoing challenge for us, but we’ve never experienced anything like this level of uncertainty before – not to mention the drain of morale and expertise,” said Christina Hausman Rhode, executive director of the Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, speaking with The New York Times.
