Washington, D.C. — After the longest government shutdown in United States history came to an end on Nov. 12, national parks appeared to jump right back into action. By the morning of Nov. 13, furloughed workers had been brought back to the National Park Service, and national park staff could be seen collecting fees at national park entrances — business as usual. But as we know by now, our national parks and public lands are far from OK.
The national parks might have remained, as Secretary Doug Burgum repeatedly assured everyone, "open, staffed, and ready to serve the American people," during the shutdown, but this was all a facade, carried out at the explicit orders handed down by the Office of the Secretary. While visitor centers, trails, and campgrounds remained open, all of the ecosystem management work that goes into ensuring that our national parks and monuments are left “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations,” which had already been put on hold after Secretary Burgum illegally fired thousands of national park rangers in the name of “government efficiency,” remained on hold.
Simply put, the reality of our national parks and monuments is as follows: The employees who remain with the National Park Service are overextended and have by-and-large lost confidence in leadership at the Department of Interior as they are made to work outside of their job descriptions to enable visitation at the expense of conservation.
Some relief, however, might be on the horizon: On the heels of these concerns, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held a press conference at Saratoga National Historical Park to call on the Administration to reinstate federal funding for repairs and other deferred maintenance at our national parks and monuments.
After the Legacy Restoration Fund expired in September, Senator Schumer is calling for new legislation to replace it. He endorsed the “America the Beautiful Act,” introduced by Senators Steve Daines and Angus King, which would reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund through 2033 and increase funding to $2 B per year.
This would not solve all of the National Park Service’s problems, but it would serve as a much-needed lifeline.
This newsletter is brought to you by the Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR), a coalition of former and current national parks staff — ranging from maintenance workers to biologists — that aims to support and protect the National Park Service by highlighting its employees’ diverse stories. As millions of Americans take advantage of all that our country’s public lands have to offer, this newsletter will elevate key stories and reports of the ongoing crisis for our national parks.
Impact of the Longest Government Shutdown in History on National Parks:
Los Angeles Times: Hundreds of Joshua trees were scorched during the shutdown
By Lila Seidman | November 21, 2025
A firefighter with the National Park Service says a fire wiped out more than a 1,000 Joshua trees amid the government shutdown. Restoration could be limited by a depleted staff, they said.
The Guardian: National parks facing ‘nightmare’ under Trump, warns ex-director of service
By Callum Jones | November 14, 2025
Americans should “raise hell” to protect U.S. national parks through the “nightmare” of Donald Trump’s presidency, according to a former National Park Service director, amid alarm over the impact of the federal government shutdown.
Jonathan Jarvis claimed the agency was now in the hands of a “bunch of ideologues” who would have no issue watching it “go down in flames” – and see parks from Yellowstone to Yosemite as potential “cash cows”, ripe for privatization.
Los Angeles Times: The government shutdown is over. The nightmare facing public lands under Trump many have just begun
By Alex Wigglesworth | November 13, 2025
During the recent government shutdown, it appeared that public lands were operating as if business was as usual. In reality, the Trump administration may have been preparing for a new, more extractive approach to managing these wildlands.
Knoxville News Central: Is Great Smoky Mountains National Park back to normal with shutdown over?
By Devarrick Turner | November 20, 2025
It cost approximately $1.9 million for the state of Tennessee, Blount, Cocke and Sevier counties, Gatlinburg, Pittman Center, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Friends of the Smokies to keep the park operating during the shutdown.
“This was a significant unexpected expense,” Jim Matheny, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies, said.
The Moab Times-Independent: Arches National Park faces uncertainty after the government shutdown
By Lizzie Ramirez | November 20, 2025
Steve Evers, executive director of Friends of Arches and Canyonlands Parks, said that he had heard Arches National Park lost about $1 million through the duration of the shutdown in visitor fees. The National Park Service did not respond to The Times-Independent inquiry about the loss in revenue.
“It was great that the state of Utah was contributing some funds to help keep the visitor center open,” Evers said. “But ultimately, the parks [were] just bleeding money throughout the shutdown.”
The Salt Lake Tribune: As the shutdown ends, a long recovery begins at Zion National Park
By Brooke Larsen | November 18, 2025
The full toll of the shutdown on national parks is still being assessed. Zion lost an estimated $1.7 million in fee revenue during October alone, according to Britt. Those fees, Britt added, cover critical park operations such as the shuttle service, trail maintenance, resource protection and visitor safety.
“When you lose that fee, and you’re also facing year over year congressional budget cuts, you move out of a situation of sustainability and solvency,” Britt said. “You’re having to move as much as you can to visitor front services, and then you start losing things like habitat protection, resource protection.”
The Travel: U.S. national parks resume operations after the government shutdown, but the future remains uncertain
By Nicole Hansen | November 16, 2025
Unfortunately, there were concrete costs to the government shutdown. No amount of generosity can completely counteract the loss of entrance fees and visitor center sales. Particularly in parks like Zion and the Grand Canyon, which were still very much in peak season during October, the losses were particularly severe.
To offset the lost income, national parks were forced to use previously collected fees to fund essential operations. Many national parks received additional help from their partner nonprofits and local governments. This support equated to millions of dollars of funding. That could potentially lead to long-term financial trouble for the national park system.
ABC Denver 7: Now that the US government is back open, the real work begins at national parks
By Shannon Ogden | November 14, 2025
"Places like Yosemite, we've heard of dispersed camping, base jumping, drone use — things that are not legal in national parks because of safety, primarily," she said. " In Utah, we've heard of illegal off-roading happening in Arches and Glen Canyon and some terrible graffiti in Arches National Park."
Other Reports Coming Out of Our Parks and Public Lands:
National Parks Traveler: Tracking down orphaned, and possibly leaking, oil and gas wells in the parks
By Kurt Repanshek | November 20, 2025
An unknown number of abandoned oil and gas wells dot the National Park System, but the one at Cuyahoga Valley National Park revealed itself with a whistling plume of colorless, odorless, and potentially lethal, methane gas.
If a group of hikers had not noticed it when they went off trail in the leafy park in northeastern Ohio, it's unclear how long the well might have vented the toxic gas. That's because President Donald Trump's energetic shrinkage of the federal workforce recently culled the last National Park Service staffer from the agency's office responsible for identifying and dealing with such orphan wells.
Forrest Smith was the last man standing in the Park Service’s Geologic Resources Division that worked to identify and plug these wells. He was let go in September after six years with the agency.
National Parks Traveler: Report finds that wildlife conservation generates big economic benefits
November 19, 2025
A new report from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation found that wildlife conservation generates substantial economic benefits, including supporting 575,000 jobs. The report, titled “Conservation Economy in America: A Snapshot of Total Fish and Wildlife-Associated Direct Investments and Economic Contributions,” documents how public and nonprofit contributions combined contributed $115.8 billion in total economic activity.
National Parks Traveler: Communities across the West are standing up for public lands
November 19, 2025
Resolutions opposing the sell-off of public lands have recently passed in counties and towns in California, Idaho, and New Mexico, demonstrating widespread support for their conservation. Overall, over 60 Western communities have passed resolutions or sent letters opposing public lands sell-off.
E&E: National parks in retrograde: Will NPS rewrite US history under Trump?
By Heather Richards | November 17, 2025
President Donald Trump earlier this year ordered that museums and national parks should search out and eliminate depictions of U.S. history that emphasize too much the sins of the past. It’s sparked a fresh debate about what kind of narratives about the United States should be told by the agency that tends the most treasured landscapes in the country. And it raised the possibility that once again much of U.S. history will not be found at national parks.
