This is the playbook of the right. In Britain the Tories cut the NHS in order to show it didn;t work so they could move to a private healthcare model because of its efficiency.
Weaken and demonize the civil service. If you think the civil service is the enemy you need to look again at who is teaching you what to hate.
Hey Doug, you’re absolutely right—this is a well-worn playbook. Underfund a public institution, let it struggle, then use that struggle as justification to privatize it. We’ve seen it happen in healthcare, education, and now, public lands.
The thing is, national parks were never meant to turn a profit—they were meant to protect our natural and cultural heritage for everyone, not just those who can afford to pay extra. When private companies take over, prices go up, access goes down, and conservation takes a back seat to revenue.
If the government can afford to subsidize oil and gas companies, it can afford to properly fund the National Park Service. This isn’t about efficiency—it’s about priorities.
Starbucks cut 1100 jobs today and you can rest assured they will continue to be a strong and viable, if not better, business. The same will be true of the NPS. Government needs efficiency and that means cuts in many places. But they will still get the job done just like Starbucks and countless business who have leaned out bloated workforces. Calling this a “crisis” is overreaction and, quite possibly, politicized misrepresentation and hysteria.
Starbucks has been losing business, that’s why they’re cutting workers, to cut costs. The National Parks? Their visitor levels have only increased since 2020, especially as people discovered RVing during the COVID pandemic. I have seen first-hand how reduced maintenance schedules and less rangers have affected different parks. I’ve visited 44 National Parks, most of those in the last 8 years when I was traveling full-time in a trailer around the US. When was the last time you visited a National Park? And did you compare it to what it was like a decade ago? Visiting Yosemite since I was 10, I can see the differences very starkly, especially after Delaware North took over. This article is speaking truth about what the cuts will mean. There was little “fat” in the field workers, which is most of NPS.
Yes, Starbucks has been losing business, and that is why they are making adjustments to their business. They are responding to reality. This is what the US government must do. The federal government is $34 trillion dollars in debt and projected to keep adding to that at $1-2 trillion more each year. There must be changes and across-the-board headcount reductions are one way to do that. The NPS is losing - per an update yesterday - 950 employees. If all of these work in the parks as opposed to HQ, that's just over two employees per park, on average. That is not going to destroy - or whatever the hysterical claims are - the NPS system. Everyone has an excuse why we can't cut back and those are no longer viable. Our growth of debt is no longer viable. Not to mention the sheer scope of the federal government is out of control in a free nation. I have visited National Park Service units all over this country, from coast to coast, including one last year. I love them. But I do not let my personal preferences and emotions cloud my rationality.
I understand this and feel your are basically right. However, unlike businesses who cut costs you look at who and what to cut and who to let go carefully. Indeed we know this is the case as the reinstated the seasonal employees.
They are also offering up enormous tax cuts to the wealthy and businesses which shows nobody is serious about deficit reduction. Businesses do not willfully reduce their revenue even when they are in trouble.
That is not the agenda here. Project 2025 plans to privatize public lands and selling them to the highest bidder. Pardon us if some us do not want that to happen.
1. Ideally we should look at who and what to cut. But government is so bureaucratic and locked into its processes and procedures that I do not think that works with them. They have zero track record of managing this way. I think the shock approach that we are seeing is needed to shake up the bureaucratic culture. If that can be done, then I would certainly support a more analytic, businesslike approach to cuts. But we have to start somewhere, and I am comfortable with how they are going about it. It is just refreshing to finally see an administration taking action, even if imperfect after so many presidents have talked about cutting waste and did little or nothing about it.
2. I used to be very adamant about attacking the debt and deficit. But I have matured and realize now that neither party is serious about this. Not a bit. Until they get serious about it, I want the money back that I worked to earn to support my family, not to support the spendthrift politicians on Capitol Hill. When they prove they are willing to cut spending dramatically - and that has to be more than DOGE as it needs to be codified in a budget - I will be open to keeping taxes level. (And keeping them level is all many of us expect now - do not let our taxes go up when the current rate structure expires. I would be fine with that.)
3. I think many public lands should be sold. Not national parks and other similar units. But vast swathes of land, especially in the West? Sell it. We are $34 TRILLION in debt, and capital locked up in such land could be sold and specifically earmarked to debt retirement (though until we stop spending, per the above, that is like bailing a sinking cruise liner with a mop bucket). I am for a lot of P2025 as it shrinks government, which enhances personal liberty. I wish Trump would embrace P2025, but he won't, despite the fear-mongering (not that there is anything to fear from that document) who claim that he is.
I am not the one being played. I know what I want, and I can see precisely what is going on and how it does and does not align with those expectations.
I hope things work out for you. I have my doubts but it is out of my hands now and in those who support the current administration. Here's to hoping you have no serious regrets.
Thanks, Jill! It seems like they got the message on this one but I fully expect there to be some hollow words here – this is just the beginning I'm afraid.
We Need to organize in a way that puts these employees back in their jobs. And we need powerful legal advocates that can sue sue sue . No privatizing national lands!!!! Who is the organization that has that power?
You’re absolutely right—we need legal firepower and organized action to push back against privatization and get these employees back in their jobs. The good news is, there are groups already fighting these battles in court. Working on an article to boost them and shine a light on the ones we need to be supporting. Here’s a quick list:
Earthjustice – One of the strongest legal teams challenging attacks on public lands and environmental protections.
Western Environmental Law Center – Focuses on legal action to protect national forests and federal lands from industry overreach.
The Center for Biological Diversity – Sues over endangered species protections, habitat destruction, and land giveaways.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) – Defends federal employees (including park rangers) who blow the whistle on corruption and mismanagement.
The key now is public pressure + legal action. Lawsuits can slow bad policies, but we also need overwhelming public outcry to make privatization politically toxic. I’d love to see more coordination between legal groups and grassroots movements—because if we don’t fight hard now, we risk losing these lands for good.
This isn't new. NPS has been turning over parks management to privates for a long time. The underlying goal for years has been to confine people to the parking lots and trails and sell the resources of the lands to corporate interests. The corruption spans many administrations make no doubt.
Spot on, Dale—this isn’t new, and it definitely crosses party lines. Public lands were protected so everyday people could enjoy them—not just corporate interests looking to squeeze profits out of every acre. And you’re right, the strategy of keeping visitors stuck in parking lots and restricted areas plays right into their hands. But I think there’s also a growing fear of liability and overcrowding as visitor numbers surge while park staffing shrinks. Less resources and more visitors is a recipe for disaster—and exactly the kind of chaos corporations use as an excuse to take over. Our parks deserve better, and so do we. Thanks for weighing in!
Will, you're all over it! Couldn't have said it better myself even though I have worked as a seasonal Ranger for 17 seasons in Yosemite.. I've been railing about NPS underfunding for well over three decades... only two of my 17 seasons at Tioga pass entrance station have been fully staffed.. We have to reverse this.. over reliance on technology.. take it to its logical end Rangers will be replaced by drones and robots.. and a visitors experience will become so digitized and constrained it will have very little resemblance to really getting out in nature...
Curt, I really appreciate this—and your 17 seasons in Yosemite give you a perspective that few have. The fact that only two of those seasons at Tioga Pass were fully staffed says it all. Chronic underfunding isn’t new, but this latest round of cuts is taking us to a breaking point.
And you’re spot on about the overreliance on technology. Virtual kiosks and AI chatbots might be efficient, but they don’t replace the experience of learning from an actual ranger. A drone can’t teach a kid how to read animal tracks. An app won’t inspire someone to dedicate their life to conservation. There’s a real risk that, if we let it, the national park experience will be reduced to little more than an Instagram backdrop—digitally guided, tightly controlled, and missing the human element that makes these places so special.
We need people fighting for these jobs, not replacing them with automation. The parks deserve better. So do the visitors. And so do the rangers who dedicate their lives to protecting them.
I think I’ll write a future post on this topic - so important. Thanks again.
Thank you Will, Nature is the single best teacher/ healer on earth and a truly dedicated Ranger can facilitate that experience far more effectively than any machine AI to the 15th power or not..
Will, thank you for your spot light on the National Park System and what is happening to it. I am a retired Park Guide, 28 years of service. I worked in four different national parks in four different areas of the country.
This is what I know.
Please use your wonderful platform to pass this on:
*Park employees are trained repeatedly to not express public political opinions. This is a BIG deal for Park employees to speak out publicly for their fired colleagues. It is a big risk to their careers.
*Yosemite National Park was established in 1890. It is the third oldest park in the system, a Park Service jewel.It has been treasured by national and international visitors for a long time. Understand who exactly hung the gigantic flag over a big rock cliff: some of the most visible park system staff placed their careers on the line for their colleagues, for their careers for all public lands.
Staff asks the Question to school children : who owns the national parks?
The answer: they do.
Congress funds National Parks.
We, our tax dollars fund Congress.
We are The National Park Service.
Thank you America for giving me a wonderful 28 year career.
Now, let's go take our National Parks back from that unauthorized, untenable, unbelievable, unwelcomed, unwell, bastard.
That’s incredibly powerful, Bambi. I can’t thank you enough for your decades of service and for sharing this. The fact that so many current and former park employees are speaking up—despite the risks—says everything about how serious this is. National parks belong to the American people, not politicians looking to gut them or corporations trying to profit off them. They exist because generations before us fought to protect them, and it’s on us to do the same.
MAGA all the way!! Saving our nation. There must be cuts. We are in crazy debt. Face it. But still fighting for National Parks. Wishing they were immune from the cuts but this is reality. Listen to the Rangers of decades long service who have posted here today that this is nothing new and stop the hysteria. Proceed with a calm educated mind instead of pitchforks.
I hear you on the reality of budget constraints, but let’s be honest—this isn’t just about "saving our nation" or addressing debt. These cuts aren’t happening because there’s no money; they’re happening because public lands and federal agencies are being systematically defunded as part of a larger effort to shrink government and open these lands to private industry.
Meanwhile, while rangers are losing their jobs, the same leaders pushing these cuts are handing out tax breaks and subsidies to oil, gas, and mining companies that are profiting off public lands. It’s not about fiscal responsibility—it’s about reallocating public wealth into private hands.
And sure, funding issues in the Park Service aren’t new—but that doesn’t mean they should be accepted as inevitable. We’ve seen time and again that when national parks are properly funded, they generate far more economic value than they cost. So if the concern is money, cutting rangers and staff while visitation skyrockets is the worst possible way to manage these places.
Fighting for funding isn’t hysteria—it’s recognizing that this is a choice, not an unavoidable reality. We either invest in our parks or we let them decline until privatization becomes the "only solution." I know which side I’m on.
This article was a dizzying read. It makes me so nervous for our parks. I truly hope that we can get some action from our representatives and support for our park and forest system.
It makes me nervous too but I’m encouraged by all the folks calling in and emailing their reps already. We’ve got folks from both sides of the aisle doing so even just on this stack which tells me we have the power to effect change here if we keep on them.
Bingo!!!! And guess what happens? They are sold for mining, drilling etc. Those parks set aside for the public’s enjoyment are lost to the public. This sort issue with “public land” is going on in MT. Where the rich are buying up land and shutting residents out.
Exactly. I always thought these battles for public lands would remain the stuff of history books rather than fights we would have to engage in but here we are.
No. I never goes away when the next group has dollar signs in their eyes. I read a piece about both Wyoming senators wanting to turn their national parks over to the state. Apparently, they don’t want tourism.
Yup! Almost everything administration is doing is economically short sighted. And WE get to pay for it. Just as one example, while all the noise is going on, in the background, this administration is pushing methane as an energy source and doing so over the green money Congress passed last year. The worst green house gas there is. So, as natural disasters increase in number and intensity, causing states and the federal government to fix the damage, everyone’s insurance rates skyrocket.
Then by all means, cut federal spending to grant yet another tax break for the rich and corporations. No dollars coming in, with even more deficit spending will eventually topple our system of government and the economy. The Russians and Chinese are smiling with glee.
Yeah, it's hard to square the constant calls for "fiscal responsibility" with policies that let corporations extract resources for pennies on the dollar while taxpayers foot the bill for the long-term damage. Cutting federal spending on things like public lands, disaster relief, and environmental protections doesn’t actually save money—it just shifts the cost elsewhere, whether that’s in skyrocketing insurance rates, massive federal aid after disasters, or communities losing their economic backbone when public resources get privatized.
And as for methane, it’s wild that it keeps getting a pass when it’s literally 80 times more potent than CO₂ in warming the planet over a 20-year span. But hey, as long as there’s a short-term profit to be made, I guess we just keep running up the tab for future generations.
I didn’t say that specifically. What I am taking about is rich people buying up public land blocking out locals. That’s just the start. My kids live there, one being an elk hunter. He’s not happy with the way things are going.
Thanks for this eye-opening, gut-wrenching inside look at what's happening behind the ranger lay-offs. Who knew? You did! and I thank God you are speaking up. I will forward your blog post to key players I know. Dietrich
And to add this note: I am booked for a visit to Utah's NPs the week of April 26-May 3, Perhaps I can report on what I find in support of this ongoing issue.
Thanks Dietrich! It's scary stuff but encouraging that folks are standing up and being heard on this. It's sure to be a long road ahead with plenty of tough scrapes but it's nice to know we're not alone in this!
Love this 🙌 I also just dropped a new podcast episode to help educate folks on how our Public Lands & Federal Jobs helped pull us out of the Great Depression, for anyone interested in knowing more to help educate people!
Thank you for this informative post. Keeping our national parks managed by the federal government clearly benefits the majority of people. We must fight to keep the dedicated, knowledgeable, career park rangers.
The answer to Musk’s madness is to just say NO. If everyone treated him like a bad fart at a chorus recital (sniffed, winced and kept on singing) he would be exposed as the fraud he truly is. If the entire federal workforce rose as one and refused to do Musk’s bidding, refused to accept firings and just kept working for us citizens, perhaps the whole monstrosity of the current administration would collapse of its own weight. If we all work together we’ve got them outnumbered.
I got a much needed laugh off your metaphor. I agree with you that we have the numbers if we're willing to work together. This is just the beginning of what's sure to be a long and drawn out battle with plenty of scars on both sides.
Yeah it's a tried and true playbook that's been used on many of our most treasured institutions from education to the postal service. Sad but unsurprising to see it spread to our treasured public lands.
They sure do. "Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things, sometimes seek to champion them by saying 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people." -TR
This is the playbook of the right. In Britain the Tories cut the NHS in order to show it didn;t work so they could move to a private healthcare model because of its efficiency.
Weaken and demonize the civil service. If you think the civil service is the enemy you need to look again at who is teaching you what to hate.
Hey Doug, you’re absolutely right—this is a well-worn playbook. Underfund a public institution, let it struggle, then use that struggle as justification to privatize it. We’ve seen it happen in healthcare, education, and now, public lands.
The thing is, national parks were never meant to turn a profit—they were meant to protect our natural and cultural heritage for everyone, not just those who can afford to pay extra. When private companies take over, prices go up, access goes down, and conservation takes a back seat to revenue.
If the government can afford to subsidize oil and gas companies, it can afford to properly fund the National Park Service. This isn’t about efficiency—it’s about priorities.
They're doing the same thing with the USPS, too. And don't forget all the for-profit prisons scattered around the country.
It's working so well in the U.S. :/
yaaaa...
Starbucks cut 1100 jobs today and you can rest assured they will continue to be a strong and viable, if not better, business. The same will be true of the NPS. Government needs efficiency and that means cuts in many places. But they will still get the job done just like Starbucks and countless business who have leaned out bloated workforces. Calling this a “crisis” is overreaction and, quite possibly, politicized misrepresentation and hysteria.
Starbucks has been losing business, that’s why they’re cutting workers, to cut costs. The National Parks? Their visitor levels have only increased since 2020, especially as people discovered RVing during the COVID pandemic. I have seen first-hand how reduced maintenance schedules and less rangers have affected different parks. I’ve visited 44 National Parks, most of those in the last 8 years when I was traveling full-time in a trailer around the US. When was the last time you visited a National Park? And did you compare it to what it was like a decade ago? Visiting Yosemite since I was 10, I can see the differences very starkly, especially after Delaware North took over. This article is speaking truth about what the cuts will mean. There was little “fat” in the field workers, which is most of NPS.
Yes, Starbucks has been losing business, and that is why they are making adjustments to their business. They are responding to reality. This is what the US government must do. The federal government is $34 trillion dollars in debt and projected to keep adding to that at $1-2 trillion more each year. There must be changes and across-the-board headcount reductions are one way to do that. The NPS is losing - per an update yesterday - 950 employees. If all of these work in the parks as opposed to HQ, that's just over two employees per park, on average. That is not going to destroy - or whatever the hysterical claims are - the NPS system. Everyone has an excuse why we can't cut back and those are no longer viable. Our growth of debt is no longer viable. Not to mention the sheer scope of the federal government is out of control in a free nation. I have visited National Park Service units all over this country, from coast to coast, including one last year. I love them. But I do not let my personal preferences and emotions cloud my rationality.
I understand this and feel your are basically right. However, unlike businesses who cut costs you look at who and what to cut and who to let go carefully. Indeed we know this is the case as the reinstated the seasonal employees.
They are also offering up enormous tax cuts to the wealthy and businesses which shows nobody is serious about deficit reduction. Businesses do not willfully reduce their revenue even when they are in trouble.
That is not the agenda here. Project 2025 plans to privatize public lands and selling them to the highest bidder. Pardon us if some us do not want that to happen.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trump-quietly-plans-to-liquidate-public-lands-to-finance-his-sovereign-wealth-fund/
Wake up my friend you are being played.
1. Ideally we should look at who and what to cut. But government is so bureaucratic and locked into its processes and procedures that I do not think that works with them. They have zero track record of managing this way. I think the shock approach that we are seeing is needed to shake up the bureaucratic culture. If that can be done, then I would certainly support a more analytic, businesslike approach to cuts. But we have to start somewhere, and I am comfortable with how they are going about it. It is just refreshing to finally see an administration taking action, even if imperfect after so many presidents have talked about cutting waste and did little or nothing about it.
2. I used to be very adamant about attacking the debt and deficit. But I have matured and realize now that neither party is serious about this. Not a bit. Until they get serious about it, I want the money back that I worked to earn to support my family, not to support the spendthrift politicians on Capitol Hill. When they prove they are willing to cut spending dramatically - and that has to be more than DOGE as it needs to be codified in a budget - I will be open to keeping taxes level. (And keeping them level is all many of us expect now - do not let our taxes go up when the current rate structure expires. I would be fine with that.)
3. I think many public lands should be sold. Not national parks and other similar units. But vast swathes of land, especially in the West? Sell it. We are $34 TRILLION in debt, and capital locked up in such land could be sold and specifically earmarked to debt retirement (though until we stop spending, per the above, that is like bailing a sinking cruise liner with a mop bucket). I am for a lot of P2025 as it shrinks government, which enhances personal liberty. I wish Trump would embrace P2025, but he won't, despite the fear-mongering (not that there is anything to fear from that document) who claim that he is.
I am not the one being played. I know what I want, and I can see precisely what is going on and how it does and does not align with those expectations.
I hope things work out for you. I have my doubts but it is out of my hands now and in those who support the current administration. Here's to hoping you have no serious regrets.
If you're right, it will be because the swamp is committed to serving Americans. They're the only ones who know how to make things work.
100% right - we need to see this for what it is and fight back!
Thanks, Jill! It seems like they got the message on this one but I fully expect there to be some hollow words here – this is just the beginning I'm afraid.
We Need to organize in a way that puts these employees back in their jobs. And we need powerful legal advocates that can sue sue sue . No privatizing national lands!!!! Who is the organization that has that power?
Marsha,
You’re absolutely right—we need legal firepower and organized action to push back against privatization and get these employees back in their jobs. The good news is, there are groups already fighting these battles in court. Working on an article to boost them and shine a light on the ones we need to be supporting. Here’s a quick list:
Earthjustice – One of the strongest legal teams challenging attacks on public lands and environmental protections.
Western Environmental Law Center – Focuses on legal action to protect national forests and federal lands from industry overreach.
The Center for Biological Diversity – Sues over endangered species protections, habitat destruction, and land giveaways.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) – Defends federal employees (including park rangers) who blow the whistle on corruption and mismanagement.
The key now is public pressure + legal action. Lawsuits can slow bad policies, but we also need overwhelming public outcry to make privatization politically toxic. I’d love to see more coordination between legal groups and grassroots movements—because if we don’t fight hard now, we risk losing these lands for good.
Appreciate your energy on this!
This isn't new. NPS has been turning over parks management to privates for a long time. The underlying goal for years has been to confine people to the parking lots and trails and sell the resources of the lands to corporate interests. The corruption spans many administrations make no doubt.
Spot on, Dale—this isn’t new, and it definitely crosses party lines. Public lands were protected so everyday people could enjoy them—not just corporate interests looking to squeeze profits out of every acre. And you’re right, the strategy of keeping visitors stuck in parking lots and restricted areas plays right into their hands. But I think there’s also a growing fear of liability and overcrowding as visitor numbers surge while park staffing shrinks. Less resources and more visitors is a recipe for disaster—and exactly the kind of chaos corporations use as an excuse to take over. Our parks deserve better, and so do we. Thanks for weighing in!
Will, you're all over it! Couldn't have said it better myself even though I have worked as a seasonal Ranger for 17 seasons in Yosemite.. I've been railing about NPS underfunding for well over three decades... only two of my 17 seasons at Tioga pass entrance station have been fully staffed.. We have to reverse this.. over reliance on technology.. take it to its logical end Rangers will be replaced by drones and robots.. and a visitors experience will become so digitized and constrained it will have very little resemblance to really getting out in nature...
Curt, I really appreciate this—and your 17 seasons in Yosemite give you a perspective that few have. The fact that only two of those seasons at Tioga Pass were fully staffed says it all. Chronic underfunding isn’t new, but this latest round of cuts is taking us to a breaking point.
And you’re spot on about the overreliance on technology. Virtual kiosks and AI chatbots might be efficient, but they don’t replace the experience of learning from an actual ranger. A drone can’t teach a kid how to read animal tracks. An app won’t inspire someone to dedicate their life to conservation. There’s a real risk that, if we let it, the national park experience will be reduced to little more than an Instagram backdrop—digitally guided, tightly controlled, and missing the human element that makes these places so special.
We need people fighting for these jobs, not replacing them with automation. The parks deserve better. So do the visitors. And so do the rangers who dedicate their lives to protecting them.
I think I’ll write a future post on this topic - so important. Thanks again.
Thank you Will, Nature is the single best teacher/ healer on earth and a truly dedicated Ranger can facilitate that experience far more effectively than any machine AI to the 15th power or not..
Look forward to your next!..
Thanks Curt! Amen to that.
Will, thank you for your spot light on the National Park System and what is happening to it. I am a retired Park Guide, 28 years of service. I worked in four different national parks in four different areas of the country.
This is what I know.
Please use your wonderful platform to pass this on:
*Park employees are trained repeatedly to not express public political opinions. This is a BIG deal for Park employees to speak out publicly for their fired colleagues. It is a big risk to their careers.
*Yosemite National Park was established in 1890. It is the third oldest park in the system, a Park Service jewel.It has been treasured by national and international visitors for a long time. Understand who exactly hung the gigantic flag over a big rock cliff: some of the most visible park system staff placed their careers on the line for their colleagues, for their careers for all public lands.
Staff asks the Question to school children : who owns the national parks?
The answer: they do.
Congress funds National Parks.
We, our tax dollars fund Congress.
We are The National Park Service.
Thank you America for giving me a wonderful 28 year career.
Now, let's go take our National Parks back from that unauthorized, untenable, unbelievable, unwelcomed, unwell, bastard.
That’s incredibly powerful, Bambi. I can’t thank you enough for your decades of service and for sharing this. The fact that so many current and former park employees are speaking up—despite the risks—says everything about how serious this is. National parks belong to the American people, not politicians looking to gut them or corporations trying to profit off them. They exist because generations before us fought to protect them, and it’s on us to do the same.
MAGA all the way!! Saving our nation. There must be cuts. We are in crazy debt. Face it. But still fighting for National Parks. Wishing they were immune from the cuts but this is reality. Listen to the Rangers of decades long service who have posted here today that this is nothing new and stop the hysteria. Proceed with a calm educated mind instead of pitchforks.
Shel,
I hear you on the reality of budget constraints, but let’s be honest—this isn’t just about "saving our nation" or addressing debt. These cuts aren’t happening because there’s no money; they’re happening because public lands and federal agencies are being systematically defunded as part of a larger effort to shrink government and open these lands to private industry.
Meanwhile, while rangers are losing their jobs, the same leaders pushing these cuts are handing out tax breaks and subsidies to oil, gas, and mining companies that are profiting off public lands. It’s not about fiscal responsibility—it’s about reallocating public wealth into private hands.
And sure, funding issues in the Park Service aren’t new—but that doesn’t mean they should be accepted as inevitable. We’ve seen time and again that when national parks are properly funded, they generate far more economic value than they cost. So if the concern is money, cutting rangers and staff while visitation skyrockets is the worst possible way to manage these places.
Fighting for funding isn’t hysteria—it’s recognizing that this is a choice, not an unavoidable reality. We either invest in our parks or we let them decline until privatization becomes the "only solution." I know which side I’m on.
This article was a dizzying read. It makes me so nervous for our parks. I truly hope that we can get some action from our representatives and support for our park and forest system.
It makes me nervous too but I’m encouraged by all the folks calling in and emailing their reps already. We’ve got folks from both sides of the aisle doing so even just on this stack which tells me we have the power to effect change here if we keep on them.
Bingo!!!! And guess what happens? They are sold for mining, drilling etc. Those parks set aside for the public’s enjoyment are lost to the public. This sort issue with “public land” is going on in MT. Where the rich are buying up land and shutting residents out.
Exactly. I always thought these battles for public lands would remain the stuff of history books rather than fights we would have to engage in but here we are.
No. I never goes away when the next group has dollar signs in their eyes. I read a piece about both Wyoming senators wanting to turn their national parks over to the state. Apparently, they don’t want tourism.
Yeah it's just so incredibly shortsighted. Tourism generates far more revenue and more evenly across the economy than resource extraction ever could.
Yup! Almost everything administration is doing is economically short sighted. And WE get to pay for it. Just as one example, while all the noise is going on, in the background, this administration is pushing methane as an energy source and doing so over the green money Congress passed last year. The worst green house gas there is. So, as natural disasters increase in number and intensity, causing states and the federal government to fix the damage, everyone’s insurance rates skyrocket.
Then by all means, cut federal spending to grant yet another tax break for the rich and corporations. No dollars coming in, with even more deficit spending will eventually topple our system of government and the economy. The Russians and Chinese are smiling with glee.
Yeah, it's hard to square the constant calls for "fiscal responsibility" with policies that let corporations extract resources for pennies on the dollar while taxpayers foot the bill for the long-term damage. Cutting federal spending on things like public lands, disaster relief, and environmental protections doesn’t actually save money—it just shifts the cost elsewhere, whether that’s in skyrocketing insurance rates, massive federal aid after disasters, or communities losing their economic backbone when public resources get privatized.
And as for methane, it’s wild that it keeps getting a pass when it’s literally 80 times more potent than CO₂ in warming the planet over a 20-year span. But hey, as long as there’s a short-term profit to be made, I guess we just keep running up the tab for future generations.
I didn’t say that specifically. What I am taking about is rich people buying up public land blocking out locals. That’s just the start. My kids live there, one being an elk hunter. He’s not happy with the way things are going.
Which National Parks in Montana have been sold for mining and drilling???
Thanks for this eye-opening, gut-wrenching inside look at what's happening behind the ranger lay-offs. Who knew? You did! and I thank God you are speaking up. I will forward your blog post to key players I know. Dietrich
And to add this note: I am booked for a visit to Utah's NPs the week of April 26-May 3, Perhaps I can report on what I find in support of this ongoing issue.
Thanks Dietrich! It's scary stuff but encouraging that folks are standing up and being heard on this. It's sure to be a long road ahead with plenty of tough scrapes but it's nice to know we're not alone in this!
Love this 🙌 I also just dropped a new podcast episode to help educate folks on how our Public Lands & Federal Jobs helped pull us out of the Great Depression, for anyone interested in knowing more to help educate people!
Thanks Delaney! I'll have to give it a listen. I believe a reincarnation of the CCC and WPA would go a long way today.
Thank you for this informative post. Keeping our national parks managed by the federal government clearly benefits the majority of people. We must fight to keep the dedicated, knowledgeable, career park rangers.
Thank you! It's my great privilege to do so. It's encouraging to see folks coming out to support our public lands. This is only the beginning.
The answer to Musk’s madness is to just say NO. If everyone treated him like a bad fart at a chorus recital (sniffed, winced and kept on singing) he would be exposed as the fraud he truly is. If the entire federal workforce rose as one and refused to do Musk’s bidding, refused to accept firings and just kept working for us citizens, perhaps the whole monstrosity of the current administration would collapse of its own weight. If we all work together we’ve got them outnumbered.
I got a much needed laugh off your metaphor. I agree with you that we have the numbers if we're willing to work together. This is just the beginning of what's sure to be a long and drawn out battle with plenty of scars on both sides.
Scary, insidious stuff - I've posted far and wide.
It really is. Thanks, Andrew!
Can’t believe I didn’t see that there was a nefarious reason for attacking the Parks Service— now I get it! Thanks!
Yeah it's a tried and true playbook that's been used on many of our most treasured institutions from education to the postal service. Sad but unsurprising to see it spread to our treasured public lands.
They want to drill baby drill
They sure do. "Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things, sometimes seek to champion them by saying 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people." -TR
Oh! And when you get rid of the forest rangers, then there's no one to “rake” the forests! 🤦♀️🤦♀️
lol
Same thing they did to he post office.
Precisely.