Congressman Neguse Sounds Alarm on Deep Crisis in National Parks, Calls on Trump Administration to Reverse Course

Lafayette, CO — In case you missed it, a new report issued by the New York Times this week underscored the gravity of the deep crisis gripping America’s national parks. The article found that at least 90 parks operated by the National Park Service (NPS) are facing serious strain due to understaffing and that in total, the NPS has lost 24% of its permanent personnel since Donald Trump reassumed office. 

The Trump administration’s budget cuts and reckless staff reductions have set national parks on an unsustainable and dangerous path: emergency services are becoming more limited, trail and campground maintenance are getting delayed, educational programs are disappearing, routine tasks like cleaning and stocking the bathrooms have gone undone, and parks have lost millions of dollars because they are unable to staff entrances and collect visitor fees.

In response to this reporting, Congressman Joe Neguse, Ranking Member of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, said: “This report underscores what folks have felt all summer: the Trump administration’s reckless attacks on hard-working public servants and federal agencies have severely hampered our ability to keep national parks, forests, and their visitors safe. It’s simply unacceptable. We must exhaust every tool available to reverse these efforts to weaken our national parks, the true crown jewels of America’s public lands.” 

Congressman Neguse, whose congressional district includes the world-renowned Rocky Mountain National Park, has been leading efforts to push back against the Trump administration’s cuts to federal funding and purging of the workforce tasked with protecting the country’s national parks and forests. Earlier this month, he joined fellow top Democrats from the House Natural Resources Committee to introduce a series of bills that would halt the abuse of the Reduction in Force (RIF) process to carry out politically-motivated mass firings across the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service. 

Neguse also championed the introduction of the Protect Our Parks Act and Save Our Forests Act, bills that direct administration officials to rehire individuals at the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service wrongfully terminated as part of Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative.  

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