Washington, D.C. — On April 3, the Trump administration released its budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, signaling a catastrophic shift that would reduce National Park Service funding by over 25% percent. The proposal slashes $736 million from national park operations while simultaneously allocating $10 billion for a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” focused on beautification projects in Washington, D.C. Compounding these cuts, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has introduced another deferred resignation program and voluntary early retirement to reduce the workforce even further. While the administration claims these moves will “align” more positions to visitor-facing roles, losing another 3,000 permanent employee positions will leave national parks unable to manage essential maintenance, safety, and resource protection.
Secretary Burgum will be headed to the Hill soon to defend these drastic cuts, and we expect members of Congress to ask him tough questions about his chaotic tenure overseeing the National Park Service thus far.
As the administration hollows out the agency from within, the Bureau of Land Management is moving to open millions of acres to oil and gas drilling, including lands directly bordering ten national parks, under the “Unleashing American Energy” executive order. A new lawsuit, filed on Wednesday by the National Parks Conservation Association, says that the administration broke the law by allowing a mining project in the Mojave Natural Preserve despite its environmental repercussions.
This week, Democracy Forward announced a new social media campaign and toolkit to mobilize public defense of our national parks and our history. As a lead partner in Democracy Forward’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s censorship efforts, the Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR) is calling on supporters to share their stories and use these tools to speak out against the removal of historical exhibits and the erasure of diverse American stories from our national parks.
This newsletter is brought to you by 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.
Deferred Resignations and Burgum’s Budget Hollow Out NPS:
National Parks Traveler: Interior Department Planning More Changes To National Park Service Staffing
By Kurt Repanshek | April 2, 2026
In a department-wide email sent Thursday evening, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told his ~70,000 employee workforce that "we are taking an important step forward in strengthening service to the American people."The moves, he said, would "improve efficiency, modernize operations and enhance mission delivery across the country."
"This initiative reflects a commitment to delivering faster, more reliable service to the public, reducing administrative burdens and ensuring that Interior’s work provides meaningful benefits to taxpayers, communities, territories, states and tribal nations," the secretary wrote.
Interior Department staff did not immediately respond to questions about what the changes might portend for the Park Service, which the Trump administration has worked to winnow down in size. However, the agency's regional directors have been summoned to Washington next week to be briefed on the changes, the Traveler was told, and an Interior release said the plans included "aligning more National Park Service positions to visitor‑facing roles."
SFGATE: Trump admin proposing 'catastrophic' cuts to the National Park Service
By Kylie Mohr | April 3, 2026
The National Park Service will operate with more than 25% less money if the Trump administration gets its wish. According to the administration’s 2027 budget proposal, released Friday, funding for park operations could be reduced by $736 million.
“A cut this massive would be catastrophic,” said John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations for the National Parks Conservation Association, in a news release. “After a year of deep staffing cuts, dwindling resources, and attacks on history and science, park staff are already at the brink. Park maintenance needs are growing, protections are eroding, and visitor experience is declining. This proposal would only accelerate the damage, putting our national parks at even greater risk and further cutting the park staff needed to care for our national treasures.”
At the same time, the Trump administration is proposing the allocation of $10 billion within the Park Service for a new “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” for beautification efforts around Washington, D.C., leading up to the country’s 250th anniversary this summer.
That’s more than three times the annual budget of the Park Service, and nearly half of the Park Service’s total deferred maintenance backlog across the entire system. “We support efforts to modernize and repair park infrastructure but not when it’s paired with massive cuts to Park Service operations,” Garder said.
Outside Magazine: Massive NPS Staffing Cuts Loom as DOI Orders ‘Visitor-Facing’ Realignment and Early Retirement
By Madison Dapcevich | April 3, 2026
Employees with the National Park Service (NPS) are bracing for another staffing change after the Department of the Interior (DOI) circulated a memorandum Thursday night. In the memo, the DOI announced an initiative to realign the NPS workforce, placing employees in “visitor-facing roles.” As part of the move, DOI said it is again offering a deferred resignation program and opportunities for voluntary early retirement.
The agency did not specify how many positions would be affected, nor did it clarify when these changes would occur. Outside contacted the DOI, which manages NPS, for clarification, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The decision comes after the White House released its 2027 budget proposal, which the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) says would gut the NPS workforce and impact more than 430 national park sites nationwide. The proposal includes a $736 million reduction to the NPS’s $3.2 billion annual budget, or about 20 percent. This, NPCA says, could eliminate thousands more park staff after a year of severe losses.
WTOP News: Trump’s budget plan pairs $10B for DC beautification projects with national parks cuts
By Tracy Johnke | April 4, 2026
President Donald Trump is proposing a $10 billion fund for federal construction and beautification projects in the D.C. area, while planning additional cuts to the agency that would oversee the work.
A “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” was included in a Friday announcement of Trump’s fiscal 2027 spending priorities.
The White House said the program within the National Park Service would “coordinate, plan, and execute targeted, priority construction and beautification projects in and around Washington, D.C.”
The National Parks Conservation Association is critical of the proposal, which also slashes $736 million from national park operations across the U.S.
The Travel: National Park Service Faces “Catastrophic” Changes Amid History Bans And Employee Cuts
By Coco Dollanganger | April 5, 2026
More than 430 national park sites in the U.S. will be affected by the Trump administration's recent budget proposal for FY 2027, slashing over a quarter of the NPS's operating funds. Critics and advocates argue that this is a threat to national parks' protection amid limited staffing and the controversial history bans.
According to NPCA budget director John Gardner, the budget slash puts national parks at "great risk," as employees grapple with staff shortages. In addition, pressure from the Trump administration to remove or change any signs or brochures is mounting, after the president issued Executive Order 14253 in March 2025, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
E&E: Interior budget proposes big staff cuts at NPS, other agencies
By Heather Richards, Ian M. Stevenson, & Jennifer Yachnin | April 6, 2026
The Trump administration called for eliminating nearly 3,000 National Park Service employee positions as part of its latest budget proposal, intensifying staffing concerns among park advocates after a year of downsizing at the agency.
The proposal, part of the White House’s fiscal 2027 budget blueprint, would significantly reduce the workforce at an agency responsible for overseeing national parks and historic sites. Overall, the budget plan calls for the Interior Department to gain 4,507 full-time-equivalent positions — a figure that represents a combination of full-time and part-time employees for budgeting purposes — compared to current staffing levels. The increase, despite losses in individual bureaus, is largely due to a large increase in fire personnel at the newly created Wildland Fire Service.
While NPS would face the biggest staffing reductions, with 2,920 full-time-equivalent positions lost, other agencies would also see substantial cuts. The Bureau of Land Management is envisioned to lose 2,000 full-time-equivalent positions, and the U.S. Geological Survey would see slighter lower cuts. At the same time, a new wildfire agency created by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would add more than 13,000 positions.
The Union Democrat: Yosemite advocates decry $736M cut to National Park Service in proposed Trump budget
By Guy McCarthy | April 13, 2026
A new White House federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 includes sweeping cuts to the National Park Service, with a $736 million reduction in park operations that could further gut the agency’s workforce and threaten the protection of Yosemite National Park, the Mother Lode’s top tourist destination, park advocates say.
Yosemite drew 4.2 million visitors in 2025, its fourth-busiest year on record, and it is almost certain to draw more people this year, with the elimination of day-use reservations to get into the park for 2026. Yosemite drew a record 5.02 million visitors 10 years ago in 2016.
“Continued investment into staffing, stewardship, infrastructure, and maintenance is critical to protecting the visitor experience and Yosemite itself,” Lisa Mayo, president and chief executive officer of Visit Tuolumne County, the county’s official tourism bureau, told The Union Democrat on Monday. “As a destination marketing organization, we support strong, sustainable funding that ensures Yosemite can be enjoyed by generations for years to come.”
Backpacker: The White House Plans to Slash the NPS's Budget. What Does That Mean for Hikers?
By Adam Roy | April 15, 2026
To say that the National Park Service has had a rough time of it since the beginning of 2025 would be an understatement. Shortly after the second Trump administration took office, officials at the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency fired thousands of probationary employees and rescinded job offers across the federal government. The NPS was among those hit hard by the cuts, losing about 1,000 workers; by August, the agency had lost roughly 24 percent of its staff. While many of those positions were later reinstated by court order, some of those affected took buyouts or retired early. Heavy restrictions on hiring left full-time jobs unfilled at the already short-staffed agency, leading some employees to pull additional shifts and take on extra responsibilities like cleaning bathrooms and collecting trash.
Now, the NPS is facing the possibility of even deeper cuts. According to a draft budget released in early April, the White House plans to slash $736 million from the park service’s operating budget in 2027 and offer buyouts and “deferred resignation” to employees. Those cuts could have meaningful impacts on both the parks and the hikers who visit them. In this video, I break down why.
Data Centers, Drilling, and Mining Threaten Public Land Protections Near National Parks:
Courthouse News: From parks to oil fields: Plan to open California lands to drilling sparks backlash
By Carly Nairn | April 3, 2026
In January, the Bureau of Land Management announced plans to open federal land next to Pinnacles for private oil and gas development.
It isn’t just Pinnacles. Under the plan, the bureau wants to open more than 725,000 acres on California’s Central Coast for extraction.
In Southern California, the agency wants to open 400,000 additional acres of public lands, as well as 1.2 million acres of federally managed underground resources. Many of these federal properties sit right next to existing state and national parks, including Pinnacles, Mount Diablo State Park, Sequoia National Park and Carrizo Plain National Monument.
The proposals have sparked backlash from a wide range of opponents, including ranchers, public health officials, recreationists and conservationists.
Los Angeles Times: Park Service broke the law approving mining inside Mojave National Preserve, lawsuit says
By Alex Wigglesworth | April 15, 2026
The National Park Service broke the law when it greenlit a mining operation in the Mojave National Preserve amid a long-running dispute with agency officials that took an abrupt turn when President Trump took office, alleges a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the National Parks Conservation Assn.
“Mojave National Preserve belongs to the American people, not an international mining company,” Chance Wilcox, the organization’s California desert program manager, said in a statement.
The conservation group has taken issue with the Colosseum Mine, where workers drilled for gold and silver until the 1990s. The open pit is located in the Clark Mountains, which provide habitat for bighorn sheep and are estimated to harbor the second-highest density of rare plants of any of the state’s mountain ranges.
National Parks Traveler: Lawsuit Filed Against Mining Operation In Mojave National Preserve
By Kurt Repanshek | April 15, 2026
NPCA staff alleged a year ago that Dateline Resources was illegally working on the site for some time despite the National Park Service issuing cease-and-desist orders, and had caused $200,000 in damages to the preserve.
“Mojave National Preserve belongs to the American people, not an international mining company. Laws and policies were put in place to protect national parks from destructive, speculative mining for a reason, and no administration is above the law when it ignores them,“ said Chance Wilcox, NPCA’s California Desert program manager. "This is an extraordinary betrayal of our parks, and we are filing litigation to defend the Mojave for the generations that come after us.”
According to the parks advocacy organization, "[B]etween 2021 and 2024, the Park Service repeatedly told Dateline Resources that no new operations at the mine could proceed until the Park Service approved a new plan of operations that addressed the environmental impacts of reopening the mine. Despite these orders, Dateline Resources proceeded to bulldoze park land and tear through fragile habitat, all without any authorization to do so, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages."
Atmos: How ‘National Security’ Became the New Justification for Drilling
By Miranda Green | April 15, 2026
The White House earlier this month proposed cutting the National Park Service’s annual budget by 25%, a move critics are calling “catastrophic.” If Congress were to approve the budget this fall, it would reduce funding for park operations by $736 million.
The announcement coincided with the Interior Department’s release of a new “Strategic Initiative to Improve Efficiency,” a vague outline that suggests more NPS staff cuts are on the way as part of an effort to speed up “permitting by eliminating redundant layers.” Permits for things like drilling on public lands.
[...] National Security is a great excuse to remove environmental and animal protections. As I wrote two weeks ago, it’s also a legal underpinning that has been used to extend the life of several aging coal plants that few want. The Iran war’s disruption of oil and gas supplies was an easy-if-obvious scapegoat in March for justifying a nearly $1 billion payment to a French energy company to abandon its plans for two offshore wind farms, contingent on that company investing instead in Texas liquid natural gas. And it works perfectly well when attempting to remove any red tape on public lands that might be keeping the oil and gas industry from “drill baby drill(-ing).”
Outside Magazine: The ‘God Squad’ Just Voted to Allow Drilling Near 10 National Park Sites. Here’s Why That Puts Public Lands at Risk.
By Owen Clarke | April 16, 2026
After a Trump administration–appointed panel rolled back endangered species protections near ten Gulf Coast national park sites, critics have sued the federal government, accusing it of playing God with threatened wildlife.
On March 31, the Endangered Species Committee (ESC), a seven-member panel comprised of political appointees, voted to allow oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico to bypass regulatory requirements. Dubbed the “God Squad” for its power to decide whether a species survives or goes extinct, the ESC can override the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it deems economic or national security interests take priority over conservation.
The environmental groups behind the suit say the oil and gas operations will jeopardize several species, including the Rice whale, one of the rarest whale species in the world.
“It’s a false choice to have to choose between drilling and endangered species,” Catherine Wannamaker, an attorney involved in the case, told Outside. “There is no need for this exemption, period.”
Other Reports Coming Out of National Parks and Public Lands:
The Guardian: Thousands in Texas protest against border wall through national park: ‘big love for Big Bend’
By Roque Planas | April 5, 2026
Thousands of people gathered at the steps of the Texas capitol on Saturday to protest against the construction of a border wall through Big Bend, in a show of bipartisan opposition to the White House’s plans.
More than 2,000 people attended the rally, according to Texas Public Radio, holding signs with slogans such as “No Big Bend NP Wall”, “Big Love for Big Bend” and “No al Muro” – Spanish for “No to the Wall”. Organizers gathered postcards from protesters to deliver to Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, who has yet to weigh in publicly on the border wall expansion plans at Big Bend.
[...] “Democrats don’t want this wall in Big Bend,” Herrera said. “Republicans don’t want this wall in Big Bend. Independents don’t want this wall in Big Bend. Sheriffs don’t want this wall in Big Bend. The tourists don’t want this wall in Big Bend. Nobody wants this wall in Big Bend.”
E&E: Many national parks vulnerable to climate change, study finds
By Heather Richards | April 7, 2026
Climate change is driving growing risks to many national park sites, threatening to fundamentally alter a large share of the country’s most iconic landscapes, new research finds.
The study, commissioned by the National Park Service, was the first of its kind, exploring the strengths and vulnerabilities of parks in the face of global warming. Looking at 259 parks, researchers found that 77 percent were highly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate.
[...] “National Parks are under threat,” wrote the team — which included Gross and scientists from the University of Washington and Conservation Science Partners. They noted that climate-driven changes are already reshaping landscapes and urged federal planners to act to help parks avoid “potentially catastrophic changes.”
New York Times: Pride Flag Can Fly at Stonewall After Trump Administration Reversal
By Liam Stack | April 13, 2026
The federal government agreed on Monday that the rainbow Pride flag could fly at the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan, in a rare instance of the Trump administration’s backing down from its nationwide attack on diversity initiatives.
The administration’s order to remove the Pride flag in February from the monument, which is in Greenwich Village, drew fierce backlash from L.G.B.T.Q. people across the country and state and local elected officials in New York, who saw it as an attack on the symbolic heart of the gay rights movement.
The agreement, which was filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, settled a lawsuit by a group of nonprofits. They argued that the government had illegally targeted L.G.B.T.Q. people and violated a policy that allows the National Park Service to fly “non-agency” flags at federal sites if the flags provide historical context.
The Travel: U.S. Interior Department Quietly Posts “Deeply Offensive” New Signs On National Park Service Website
By Sunil Purushe | April 15, 2026
The President's House Site in Philadelphia, PA, is an open-air historical exhibit managed by the National Park Service (NPS). It marks the site of America's first executive mansion, the residence of George Washington and John Adams. It has also been the center of a heated legal battle recently between the U.S. government and city officials.
Following a 2025 Executive Order by President Donald Trump, NPS staff removed slavery-related signs at the President's House Site. The action led to the city of Philadelphia suing the Department of the Interior (DOI), claiming 'censorship' and 'erasing history.'
The National Park Service has now posted the proposed new signage for the President's House on its website. Critics are unhappy with the new signage and argue that it downplays the role of slavery in the nation's founding by softening the tone regarding slavery.
