America has 63 designated national parks and 433 other park sites. These range from battlefields and monuments, to historical sites. The fate for these parks is now more uncertain than ever after budget cuts and laws have been made around them.
This past year, the National Park Service has been hit hard by funding reductions. The Trump administration has proposed cutting the National Park Service’s budget by $1 billion, which would have a significant impact on the parks’ ability to maintain operations, protect wildlife, and accommodate the millions of visitors who come each year.
With the recent government shutdown, the park system only gets affected more. According to CBS News, national parks lose approximately $1 million each day the federal government remains closed. The consequences of the shutdown for parks were visible from December 2018 to January 2019 during the shutdown then. Vandalism and overflowing trash were all around the parks, with many services being closed, such as restrooms.
Even before the government shutdown, the impact of the funding cuts were already being seen. Isle Royale National Park, the least visited national park in the U.S, lost its main operating ferry after budget cuts forced engineering crew layoffs. This meant that visitors would have limited access to the park. Isle Royale is just one of the examples of the staffing crises happening, with an overall estimated 25% of national park staff fired so far in 2025.
In addition to budget issues, environmental protections are also being slowly destroyed under the administration’s Project 2025 plan. The plan is to open federal lands to let industries get oil, gas, and mines in general. Recently, there has been approval for the Ambler Access Project, a 211 mile road through Alaska’s wilderness. 26 of these miles would cut directly through the Arctic National Park and Preserve. This road paves the way for mining operations for coal, gold, and iron. Project 2025 is allowing industries to exploit US public lands with projects like the Ambler Access Project and have fewer consequences for it.
As the future of America’s public lands fades, park employees and visitors are demanding attention and action to protect and preserve our parks before the damage is irreversible. If you want to help protect our lands, visit nwf.org or support.npca.org for more information.
