National Parks Under Threat: Former Directors Unite Against Service Cuts
Five former National Park Service directors have joined forces to challenge Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s recent directives that they believe could force park superintendents to ignore their legal responsibilities to protect natural resources.
The directors are concerned about Burgum’s order to acting-NPS Director Jessica Bowron to ensure “that all park units remain open and accessible to the American public.” They also cite Bowron’s follow-up memo telling park managers to “prioritize activities that deliver the greatest benefit to the greatest number of visitors.”
Directives
These directives “suggest, if not outright direct, park managers to ignore their park resource protection responsibilities in favor of providing for visitor services”, warns the letter signed by former directors who served under presidents from Nixon to Obama, writes National Parks Traveler.
The protest comes amid reports of significant staffing cuts targeting the Park Service’s Washington headquarters, regional offices, and specialized departments. These reductions affect experts like paleontologists, air quality scientists, archaeologists, and other specialists who provide critical knowledge to parks.
Probationary employees
Since taking office in January, President Trump has worked with businessman Elon Musk to reduce the federal government’s size. The Park Service has already canceled seasonal position offers, fired around 1,000 probationary employees on Valentine’s Day, and encouraged early retirement with “fork in the road” offers.
An estimated 2,400-2,500 employees—about 12.5 percent of the entire workforce—have accepted these resignation or retirement offers, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
Need for efficiency
The former directors acknowledge the need for efficiency but argue that “the National Park Service has been engaged in management efficiency for decades. Thousands of volunteers already support the work of the parks. Millions of dollars have been donated by park neighbors and organizations in support of the parks. Thousands of National Park Service positions have been eliminated as budgets have not kept pace with inflation.”
The letter also highlights how the National Park System supports local economies, warning that these cuts ‘will have an enormous financial impact on the communities that rely on parks and other public lands that support their economies’.
Trump’s proposed 2026 budget includes more than $1 billion in cuts to the Park Service, which could leave 350+ park units unfunded. The plan also suggests transferring an unspecified number of parks to state management.
