Staffing cuts at the National Park Service, where more than 1,700 full-time workers were forced out just before the start of the 2025 tourist season, may be one of the first real tests of public support for the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce.
The impacts are already being seen at the 63 parks and 370 other sites managed and maintained by the Park Service: longer lines at entrances, reduced hours at visitor centers, canceled tours with park rangers and fewer trained staff to help with maintenance issues and emergencies.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is pledging to address the problem by hiring between 5,000 and 7,700 seasonal workers, but insiders say the goal will be difficult to meet before hordes of visitors descend on the parks this spring and summer.
