Despite staffing cuts, National Parks have been ordered to remain open.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has directed federally operated National Parks to “remain open and accessible for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people and to ensure that the National Park Service (NPS) will provide the best customer service experience for all visitors.”
The order, issued late Thursday, also directs officials at the Department of the Interior to “ensure the NPS is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit.”
The order requires that local park officials report current operating hours and staffing levels, and prevents those officials from making adjustments without approvals from the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks in consultation with the NPS director. Decisions on closures or changes at each NPS site had previously been made by local park officials.
A spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an independent advocacy group for national parks, called the order “micromanagement at its worst”.
“Park managers know their parks better than anyone. They have been trusted to make short- and long-term decisions to protect visitors and safeguard our most irreplaceable natural and historic treasures,” said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs at NPCA.
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“The administration is now tying their hands and forcing them to jump through bureaucratic hoops just to close a trail, campground, or visitor center they believe poses a risk or can’t be staffed.”
Earlier this year, Interior rescinded job offers for many seasonal or probationary park workers. Some of those staffing cuts were later rescinded following blowback, but National Parks, which have been understaffed for years, are still facing significant staffing shortages going into the peak summer visitor season. Several of the workers who were reinstated by a court order at Interior were immediately placed on administrative leave.
The Department of Interior has offered employee buyouts ahead of another round of staffing cuts, which could reduce payroll up to 30%. The department has not publicized details of which divisions will be affected or how many NPS employees will be impacted by the plans.
Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the conservation nonprofit Center for Western Priorities, raised concerns about the secretary’s order, saying that the directive amounts to “cutting park superintendents and the public out of any future decisions regarding the management of America’s national parks.”
The department of the Interior is charged with the oversight and management of national parks by the National Park Service Organic Act, which was passed by Congress in 1916, creating the NPS. The act requires Interior to ensure that the parks (which includes 18 different naming designations for public lands in addition to “park”, including National Memorials, National Monuments, National Scenic Trails, and National Historic Sites) are not only accessible to the public, but also for the protection and conservation of the parks “by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Adding a layer of bureaucracy to park accessibility decisions, says the NPCA, could potentially violate the Organic Act.
The National Park Service oversees 433 units covering 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories on behalf of the American people, who are ultimately the owners of the country’s federally designated public lands. U.S. national parks set a visitation record in 2024, with 331.9 million recreational visits. 28 parks set new visitation records, including Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park, which were also the top five most visited national parks last year.
The National Park Service employs approximately 20,000 full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers.
