Staffing Cuts Strain National Parks Operations

9/22/2025

The national parks are reeling. At least one-fifth of the country’s 433 parks have been significantly strained and understaffed because of steep cuts mandated by the Trump administration, according to The New York Times. 

Staffing at the National Park Service had been shrinking in the past decade because of tightened budgets. But it has lost 24 percent of its permanent employees since President Trump took office, according to data compiled by the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association. Among those who left: more than 1,800 park workers who accepted the administration’s resignation initiatives. 

More than 90 national parks reported problems between April and the end of July stemming from departures, cuts and a hiring freeze. Routine tasks like cleaning and stocking the bathrooms have gone undone. Fewer rangers have given tours and lectures. Visitor centers have reduced hours, and parks have lost millions of dollars because they are unable to staff entrances and collect visitor fees. 

Among the issues raised in the internal documents are these, according to National Parks Traveler: 

• At Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, flooding of the historic David Wills House in September 2024 led to removal of artifacts, including the bed that President Lincoln slept in, and the park's inability to maintain museum quality environmental conditions means the artifacts will not be returned for display. 
• Grand Canyon National Park staff have had a “reduction in ability to provide pest management services, both immediate needs and preventative in all buildings and park lodging.  Also, no monitoring or prevention of zoonotic diseases (plague, rabies, hantavirus, bedbugs). There will also be less response to visitor/wildlife interactions impacting visitor safety.”  
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park staff has been unable to open the Round Bottom Horse Campground due to damage to facilities there and the access road caused by Hurricane Helene. 

Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?