The budget bill that President Trump dubbed the Big, Beautiful Bill passed by the House in the early hours of July 3. Trump signed the bill on July 4. The National Parks Service (NPS) will lose massive funding and face possible fossil fuel development.
An analysis by the Center for American Progress found that the bill takes back $267 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds from NPS staffing cuts. That will result in a 30 percent reduction in staff. National parks across the country are already feeling the impact with closed ranger stations, campgrounds, and access to public lakes and toilets. The Grand Canyon National Park warned hikers to expect longer waits for search and rescue teams.
NPS Staffing Cuts: An “Affront to Park Lovers”
The bill decreases funding per visitor by over one-third from 2024 amounts and nearly 55 percent from 2011 levels. Visitors to national public lands have increased by more than 20 percent over the last two decades.
The analysis predicts that the number of public land visitors per employee will increase by almost 75 compared to 2011. Under the bill, the ratio of employees to visitors will increase to one employee per 16,000 visitors. That equals one park ranger overseeing the Grand Canyon National Park by themself for a day. Before Trump took office, there was one employee per 9,200 visitors.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) found the cuts could lead to a 75 percent reduction in funds to the NPS. The amount of budget cuts “essentially wipes out budgets and staffing” for at least 350 of the 433 national parks, according to the NPCA’s analysis. The overall budget hit to operate national parks is $900 million, the biggest cut in the history of the NPS.
“This bill is an affront to park lovers near and far, and could destabilize the places people go to hike, fish, and connect with America’s historic and cultural resources,” Daniel Hart, the National Park Conservation Association’s director of clean energy and climate policy, said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, dubbed it the Big, Ugly Bill. He also said that the bill “guts protections, opens millions of acres to drilling, mining and logging, and rewrites the rules into a pay-to-play scheme for Trump’s billionaire donors.”
The Economic & Environmental Value of National Parks
According to a recent survey, most Americans (83 percent) support maintaining or increasing funding for the NPS. They appreciate the value that national parks bring to the environment and the economy. Visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2023 generated a $55.6 billion economic benefit and supported 415,400 jobs. The DOI published the findings in 2024. A 2016 study estimated that national parks have a value of $92 billion per year.
National parks remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in plants. Plant cover comprises 85% of the national parks. A 2015 study examined carbon sequestration rates from 2001 to 2005 and calculated the current rates. Researchers found that the annual carbon sequestration rate in national parks is approximately 17.5 million metric tons of carbon, with a value of $707 million.
A 2019 study found that national parks have a value of $98 billion per year in ecosystem services. They also found that if the NPS had a budget comparable to commercial real estate, it would be around $30 billion annually.
The Big, Ugly Bill falls far short of what national parks need to continue bringing value to the nation.
