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From the Center for Western Priorities
Staffing shortages are hitting national parks and forests hard this summer
The Trump administration’s funding and staffing cuts are crippling our national parks, forests, and other public lands. Since January, the National Park Service has lost a quarter of its permanent staff, leaving parks across the country scrambling to serve summer visitors. Thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees were also laid off earlier this year, leading to lags in recreation permitting and overflowing toilets. And, more than 4,500 Forest Service firefighting jobs — around a quarter of the agency’s full firefighting force — remained vacant as of July 17.
A new Westwise blog post from the Center for Western Priorities lays out the many ways in which the Trump administration’s funding and staffing cuts are crippling our national parks, forests, and other public lands. These cuts are completely at odds with the wishes of the American public, who love public lands and want to see the agencies that care for them fully funded.