Every year, around the Fourth of July, many Americans head out to national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands to celebrate, unwind, and take in the wonder that the nation has to offer. But, this summer, Americans may also find long lines, crowded trailheads, and closed campgrounds—all of which result from cuts in federal staffing and spending thanks to the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). These cuts are now teed up to dramatically accelerate if Trump’s 2026 budget proposal becomes reality.
The Trump administration’s proposals—many of which are already being executed—for defunding and firing workers at America’s public land agencies could mean a crisis for some of the nation’s most popular government services. The Trump administration and DOGE have fired hundreds of rangers and land managers, making parks and public lands less safe, less clean, less accessible, and more crowded than ever before. At the same time, the president has even bigger designs to decimate the budgets and staff at U.S. public land agencies: the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
A new CAP analysis finds that the Trump administration’s 2026 budget would decrease funding for these public land agencies by more than a third of 2024 levels. After accounting for inflation, it would decrease per-visitor spending by nearly 55 percent from 2011. Similarly, proposed employment for these agencies would be 30 percent lower than in 2024. In fact, the number of visitors per park or forest ranger is proposed to go up nearly 75 percent since 2011.
Visitation to America’s public lands has continued to go up over the years, while funding and staffing have trended downward. These trends are punctuated by the cliff imposed by the Trump administration’s 2026 budget and mass firings. These actions will have severe consequences for the millions of Americans who love and visit parks and public lands each year.
Defunding America’s parks and public lands
The Trump administration’s proposed 2026 budget includes an unprecedented scale of cuts for the agencies that manage America’s outdoor spaces, campgrounds, trails, wildlife, and more. In total, the proposed budget includes a nearly $4 billion cut to national parks, national forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness and recreation areas, and more. That is a 35 percent decrease from 2024 funding and will impact services such as maintenance, research, land conservation and restoration, recreation, cultural and historic preservation, and visitor services. The more than $1.2 billion cut to the NPS would be the largest cut to the agency’s budget in its 109 year history.
DOGE is already decimating public land agencies
The Trump administration and DOGE wasted no time purging park rangers, scientists, and other public land experts through firings and buyouts. The Washington Post estimates that there has already been a 16.5 percent drop in NPS staff since 2023 due to DOGE cuts, including firings, deferred resignations, buyouts, and early retirements. The impacts have been similar at other land management agencies, with at least 800 BLM staff losing their jobs already.
These firings and staffing cuts have led to closed ranger stations at popular recreation areas, closed campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains, and closed access to public lakes and park toilets nationwide. Understaffed parks, such as Crater Lake in Oregon, have seen their superintendents leave due to the pressures of the DOGE staffing purge. Cuts to AmeriCorps and the National Civilian Community Corps have only compounded the issue and have led to visible impacts like poorly maintained trails. The Grand Canyon National Park even announced that, due to limited staffing, visitors should expect delayed search and rescue for lost or injured visitors—a service that saves more than 300 people at the park annually. Despite these clear repercussions, the administration is on the verge of another major purge, which has so far been blocked by the courts.
The administration does not appear to be closely tracking the impact of these moves on American communities. In his most recent Senate appearance, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum—who is in charge of most national public lands—refused to state how many national park superintendent positions were vacant. Nor was he tracking the number of wildfire-certified personnel that have left the Department of the Interior because of the DOGE actions. Furthermore, Trump’s militarization of Los Angeles cut the state’s National Guard firefighting force by three-quarters by diverting roughly 300 California National Guard fire crews to armories in the Los Angeles region.
Firing even more park and forest rangers
These proposed budget cuts won’t happen in a vacuum. The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal also slashes employment across public land agencies. If enacted, there will be 30 percent fewer staff across the NPS, USFS, FWS, and BLM compared to 2024. The secretaries of Interior and Agriculture are also making major staff reallocations that appear to prioritize staff for timber, mining, and law enforcement, changing the composition and capacity of the remaining workforce.
If the proposed budget comes to pass, the number of visitors per agency employee will have gone up nearly 75 percent since 2011. In 2011, across NPS, USFS, BLM, and FWS, there was approximately one staff member for every 9,200 public lands visitors. But, under the Trump administration’s plans, that ratio would increase to one public lands staff member per 16,000 visitors. That’s the equivalent of a single park ranger overseeing the 1.2-million-acre Grand Canyon National Park alone for a whole day.
Land sales and transfers in the budget
Threats to public lands are coming from nearly every angle. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was forced to pull his proposal for a massive liquidation of public lands in the “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” due to an outcry from people across the political spectrum. Despite this, the Trump administration’s budget mirrors this proposal to dispose of public lands by calling for the NPS to “transfer certain properties to state-level management.”
The National Parks Conservation Association estimates that this policy—combined with the $900 million cut to the parks’ operation budget—would essentially end funding for 350 national parks, or 75 percent of the sites managed by the Park Service. National Heritage Areas—which include destinations such as Niagara Falls and Civil War battle fields—could suffer the same fate. States are not equipped with the proper resources to take over management of these sites. Burdening individual states with responsibility to pay for national parks would be a budget nightmare for financially strapped states. Transferring public lands to states would impact conservation, maintenance, and visitor experiences—and could even lead to these areas being sold off or privatized.
Selling out America’s recreation economy
These budget and staffing cuts are all happening as the number of visitors to national public lands has increased more than 20 percent over the last 20 years. If enacted, the Trump administration’s budget would decrease per-visitor spending by more than one-third from 2024 numbers—and nearly 55 percent from 2011.
The Trump administration’s budget proposal makes particularly drastic cuts to recreation spending, including a $45 million—or 62 percent—cut to the BLM recreation budget. The NPS will also see significant cuts in recreation and preservation funding, including an 85 percent budget cut and a decrease in staffing from 209 full-time equivalent employees to just 32. The same is true of the USFS despite the fact that national forests generate more money from recreation than from logging.
The effect of this action won’t just be on visitors. Parks and public lands bring a huge amount of economic activity to surrounding communities. The Trump administration’s budget is nonsensically cutting a service that’s a great investment for America. It is also putting at risk the long-term stewardship of these lands, protection of cultural treasures, and prevention of future catastrophic wildfires.
Conclusion
America’s land management agencies are already underfunded and understaffed. Not only are these cuts completely misaligned with the reality of increased visitation, but they are also misaligned with the will of the American public. An overwhelming majority—83 percent—of Americans support increasing or maintaining funding for national parks and forests. This budget proposal and the actions of the Trump administration are in direct opposition. Ultimately, these unprecedented and draconian cuts will affect the ability of the NPS, USFS, BLM, and FWS to fulfill their core missions and will force these agencies into crisis.
Methodology
The authors sourced data on visitation, employment, and funding back to 2011. Visitation data was found via agency records: NPS, BLM, USFS 1 & 2, and FWS annual greenbooks. Where data was not available, visitation was assumed equivalent to prior year. Budget data and employment numbers (which reference full-time equivalents, or FTEs) were found in annual budget justifications and appropriations documents, namely the appropriations three-year lookback. Where possible, budget and FTE data, was sourced from the budget justification of two years prior in order to determine “actual,” rather than proposed, budgets and employment. Trump’s 2026 budget was the data source for FTEs and budgets 2024–2026. 2025 and 2026 are based on budget estimations and requests since actuals are not yet available. USFS wildfire budgets and employees were separated out to account for Trump’s proposed relocation of those jobs to the Department of the Interior. The budgets prior to 2024 have been adjusted for inflation. Data is on file with the authors.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Will Beaudouin, Bianca Serbin, Chester Hawkins, Matt Lee-Ashley, Rachael Hamby, Jennifer Rokola, Aaron Weiss, Dylan Nezaj, Mark Haggerty, Akshay Thyagarajan, Nicole Gentile, Drew McConville, and the local and national conservation leaders who are building impactful and equitable conservation solutions every day.