{"id":12053,"date":"2026-05-01T21:46:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=12053"},"modified":"2026-05-01T21:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:46:29","slug":"proposed-budget-slashes-nps-funding-by-nearly-one-third","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=12053","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Budget Slashes NPS Funding by Nearly One-Third"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>The new budget aims to promote \u201cvisitor-facing roles,\u201d but critics argue the cuts will gut the agency&#8217;s science and conservation capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">Death Valley Park Ranger Spencer Solomon performs his daily duties around Zabriskie Point on September 26, 2024 in Death Valley National Park<!-- --> (Photo: The Washington Post\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published May 1, 2026 03:12PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The debate over the Trump administration\u2019s budget for national parks is heating up, and thousands of federal public lands jobs are hanging in the balance.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/budget\/appropriations\/2027\">proposed 2027 budget<\/a> for the Department of the Interior (DOI)\u2014the federal agency that manages the majority of American public lands and employs roughly <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/employees\/about\">70,000 people<\/a>\u2014will slash nearly a third of the annual budget for the National Park Service (NPS). The proposal would reduce the NPS operating budget from $3.2 billion to $2.2 billion, putting thousands of the agency\u2019s employees at risk<span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px\">, according to the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2026-04\/fy2027greenbooknps_0.pdf\">proposal<\/a>, in an effort to <\/span>streamline \u201cburdensome administrative processes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an April 29 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/p7XXQi9xawI?t=343s\">hearing<\/a> on Capitol Hill, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, ranking Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, blasted the Trump administration about the proposed cuts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis budget request makes clear this administration is not committed to keeping the Park Service intact,\u201d Heinrich said. \u201cThis budget would decimate the management of our national parks and monuments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heinrich wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat this budget proposal tells me is that this administration does not prioritize our national parks, our public lands; does not care about remembering and telling our nation\u2019s history; does not value our wildlife; and does not prioritize our Tribal communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed plan would bring the NPS workforce down from 16,000 to roughly 13,000. While the cuts are focused on back-office support, not on-site jobs like park rangers, opponents of the budget argue it could have a crippling trickle-down effect. That means there could be unmanaged overcrowding in Yosemite, frozen permitting systems in the Grand Canyon, and less scientific research to ease human-wildlife conflict in Yellowstone. At a time when 26 parks saw their <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/subjects\/socialscience\/visitor-use-statistics-dashboard.htm#:~:text=The%20National%20Park%20Service%20reported,record%20for%20annual%20recreation%20visits.\">highest visitation<\/a> on record, these cuts could lead to large crowds and thinly stretched NPS crews.<\/p>\n<p><em>Outside<\/em> contacted the DOI, NPS, and the Office of Management and Budget, the agency responsible for drafting the budget, for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p>Although the DOI said its budget proposal wouldn\u2019t target NPS staff working inside the parks, Heinrich argued the loss of park regional supporting roles would cripple the NPS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether a particular wildlife biologist or archaeologist or botanist or historian works at one specific park or supports multiple parks from a regional office,\u201d Heinrich said. \u201cEliminating those positions means our national parks will go without the science-based management and conservation they need, and that the American people have frankly come to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2740248\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Visitors hike the Mist Trail toward Vernal Falls on August 31, 2025 in the Yosemite National Park, California\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1350\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2740248\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2232927608.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2232927608.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Visitors hike the Mist Trail toward Vernal Falls on August 31, 2025, in the Yosemite National Park, California<\/span> (Photo: Apu Gomes\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In his opening remarks defending the proposal, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum argued that the budget \u201creflects President Trump\u2019s priorities to pursue American energy dominance, deliver services more efficiently, uphold law and order, and make federal land safe and accessible for all Americans.\u201d Burgum said the budget focused on \u201cunification, not consolidation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are unifying without cutting corners,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019re unifying to improve efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In February 2025, the Trump administration began laying off roughly 5,000 public lands employees, including 1,000 NPS workers, and 4,000 other employees of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The budget proposal for fiscal year 2027, if passed, would result in an additional <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2026-04\/fy2027greenbooknps_0.pdf\">2,920 full-time positions<\/a> being cut from NPS.<\/p>\n<p>On April 2, the DOI sent out a memo announcing a plan to realign the NPS workforce, placing more employees in \u201cvisitor-facing roles.\u201d The realignment plan also offered both deferred resignations and voluntary early retirement opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Congress will continue to debate the fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, including the DOI budget, throughout the summer and will likely vote on a final version by the fall, before the 2027 fiscal year begins on October 1. If Congress does not agree on a budget by then, the legislature will need to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government, or the federal government will shut down again.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/environment\/national-park-service-budget-cuts-2027-impact\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new budget aims to promote \u201cvisitor-facing roles,\u201d but critics argue the cuts will gut the agency&#8217;s science and conservation capabilities. Death Valley Park Ranger Spencer Solomon performs his daily duties around Zabriskie Point on September 26, 2024 in Death Valley National Park (Photo: The Washington Post\/Getty Images) Published May 1, 2026 03:12PM The debate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wild-living"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}