National Park Service Rangers Layoffs Raise Concerns about the Future of Our National Parks

This past week alone over 1,000 park rangers were fired from their jobs all across the country due to severe budget cutes. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) implemented under the Trump administration was established to limit spending in areas deemed excessive to promote government efficiency and productivity. According to new online trackers on the DOGE’s website, the total amount of savings so far has totaled over 55 billion dollars, only 2.75% of the way to their goal of 2 trillion dollars. The National Park Service has not been the only government agency to undergo major budget cuts, and there likely will be more cuts that follow. These recent layoffs have lead to examinations surrounding the impact of our national parks and the environment as a whole. 

Founded in 1916 under the Wilson administration, The National Park Service preserves the unimpaired national and cultural resources and values of the National Park System. The service manages national parks, monuments and other historic, natural and recreational properties in the United States. Park rangers themselves are employed to enforce the park rules, educate visitors on the environment and the wildlife in the area, maintain park facilities and resources, and respond to emergencies. With these terminations, there will be less workers available to protect wildlife and its resources, maintain clean grounds (which includes service stations), provide education to visitors, fight wildfires, keep visitors safe, and conduct research, which will impact the ecosystems of each park. Already, the National Parks have been understaffed for years, so these layoffs prove to be an even bigger blow to their capacities. There have already been demands for the restoration of the positions of the 1,000 employees that lost their jobs and a prevention of further budget cuts.

Under an executive order that was put into place on January 20th, 2025 entitled “Unleashing American Energy,” it is ordered that the United States follows policy “to encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf.” This means that all national parks and monuments are under review for potential oil and gas extraction. Drilling for oil in these areas may have harmful effects on the environment through pollutants in the air and water which can destroy these currently unimpaired ecosystems as well as disproportionately harm vulnerable communities. On a global scale, climate change has surged with the rise of stronger weather patterns including more devastating hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, blizzards, colder winters and hotter summers. These oil drillings paired with the current budget cuts and layoffs could prove to be catastrophic for both our National Park Systems and the global environment.

(Featured image source: Flickr / Kurt Moses)