Tucson
The Keep Parks Public tour braved the August heat in Tucson, Arizona, the hometown of Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss. We gathered Southern Arizona conservation leaders to hear about attacks on Arizona’s public lands.
A Sunday morning press conference at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park highlighted the ongoing threats to Arizona’s public lands, including increased risk of wildfire, limited access to educational programming in the parks, diminished earnings for local businesses, and pollution brought from companies seeking to extract natural resources, especially at Ironwood Forest National Monument and Saguaro National Park.
Speakers included Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, Pima County Supervisor Jen Allen, Kate Hotten, co-executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, and Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities.
“Although not subject to the endangered species act, the most endangered species in national parks today is the park ranger. America’s national parks are our country’s crown jewels. These attacks on staffing, science, and history are simply un-American.”
Across Arizona and the country, funding and staffing shortages left national parks, monuments, and forests scrambling to serve summer visitors.
At least 10 employees were laid off at Grand Canyon National Park, including four working the South Rim entrance, resulting in wait times doubling for visitors entering the park. Infrastructure projects have been delayed at the park, including the replacement of a 12.5-mile water pipeline supplying South Rim facilities and Tusayan.
The only hydrologist working for the entire Coronado National Forest was fired earlier this year, jeopardizing wildfire readiness and watershed health.
Visitor centers at Saguaro National Park were closed on Mondays earlier this year, due to staff shortages.
The Trump administration proposed eliminating all funding for the Santa Cruz Valley and Yuma Crossing National Historic Areas, jeopardizing historic and cultural preservation initiatives.