Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs Raise Concerns About the Future of Public Lands

America’s national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands encompass more than a billion acres of land and marine areas across the country, providing recreational opportunities, protecting wildlife, safeguarding natural, historical and cultural resources, and much more.

However, these sites — and the many benefits they provide — may now face an existential crisis due to the Trump administration’s termination of thousands of employees with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service.

“Our public lands are already experiencing increased visitation amid staff shortages, so these job cuts will only make it more difficult to maintain them,” said Lincoln Larson, an associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State.

Since 2010, the National Park Service alone has experienced a 20% decrease in full-time staff amid a 16% increase in visitation. In 2023, the agency reported that its more than 400 parks recorded 325.5 million visits, resulting in a record-high $55.6 billion benefit to the nation’s economy. 

Employees of the National Park Service and other public land management agencies protect natural resources, maintain facilities and trails, conduct research and more. With the recent round of layoffs, there will be even less oversight at public lands. 

“Public land management relies heavily on a permanent workforce, and contrary to what the Trump administration has cited, many of the people who were laid off actually performed essential functions that kept our parks healthy, safe and accessible,” Larson said. 

Larson added that the layoffs could lead to reduced hours, the increased usage of timed entry, and the closure of trails, campgrounds, visitor centers and other facilities at national parks and other public lands.

Some national parks have already begun experiencing issues as a result of the layoffs. Yosemite National Park has delayed its summer campground reservations amid staffing concerns, while Grand Canyon National Park is currently warning visitors of long entry lines.

In North Carolina, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is actively discouraging outdoor recreation “due to park staffing being stretched and visitor safety concerns” following damage caused by Hurricane Helene. As of Friday, Feb. 21, at least 12 of the park’s employees have been terminated.

“I think we’re going to see a lot of people outraged in the coming weeks and months as they begin to see the impacts of these job cuts firsthand,” Larson said. 

Larson added that the recent layoffs also endanger public safety. Park rangers and other federal public land management employees educate visitors about local wildlife and weather conditions, respond to medical emergencies, participate in search and rescue operations, report and manage wildfires, and much more.

The layoffs, combined with the increasing number of visitors at public lands, is a “formula for disaster,” according to Larson. “Whether it’s a lost hiker in a wilderness area that couldn’t be found or a home burned down by a wildfire that couldn’t be extinguished, it’s only a matter of time before bad things start happening due to the lack of staffing.” 

Larson also highlighted visitation trends at national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic as a prime example of the potential environmental impacts that can result when there aren’t enough park rangers and other staff members available to manage crowds.

During the pandemic, some national parks remained open but without essential services (regulation enforcement, waste collection, etc.) due to staffing shortages. This led to illegal all-terrain vehicle use and trash dumping along trails and other areas within the parks.

All-terrain vehicle use, trash dumping and even legal activities such as hiking and mountain biking can negatively impact ecosystem health if crowds aren’t monitored. Hikers, for example, can unintentionally trample plants or disturb wildlife.

“Protecting resources is vital for maintaining the integrity and long-term health of our nation’s public lands,” Larson said. “Consequently, if the federal government is willing to indiscriminately fire the very people who are tasked with protecting these resources, we will slowly lose public spaces and the critical services they provide.” 

The closure of trails and other recreational opportunities at public lands would also have society-wide health impacts, according to Larson. “We’ve shown in multiple studies at every scale and with every population that spending time in nature improves physical and mental health.”

A 2022 study co-authored by Larson found that parks and greenspace provide a number of health benefits, including increased physical activity, reduced stress and anxiety, enhanced social connections, and much more.

“If we, as a society, lose these opportunities to get outside, we’re going to have a very unhappy, unhealthy and struggling population. And it won’t just be one group of people. It will be everybody. Parks benefit everyone the same way, as long as we have access to these valuable places” Larson said. 

The Future of Public Lands Depend on Public Support

Looking forward, Larson said he hopes the general public will become more aware of the role and importance of the National Park Service and other federal land management agencies, especially since the health of these agencies can impact local and state-funded lands.

The National Park Service, for example, manages the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program, which provides grants through the Land and Water Conservation Fund for community-sponsored park projects. 

“While the recent termination of National Park Service employees and other federal workers immediately impacts federal land management, there will be a trickle-down effect as these agencies face increased scrutiny,” Larson said.

The Trump administration has already directed the heads of federal departments and agencies to submit plans for a second phase workforce reduction by mid-April, though it is currently restoring some National Park Service employees and has permitted the agency to hire 7,700 seasonal employees.

Seasonal employees will help the National Park Service meet the demand of peak seasonal visitation and summer maintenance, but it won’t undo the damage caused by the termination of full-time employees.

“The administration may think it’s cutting costs, or what it calls ‘waste,’ by replacing full-time employees with seasonal workers, but it’s actually creating agencies that can no longer function because of uncertainty, fear and inadequate capacity,” Larson said. 

He added, “Seasonal jobs are often filled by students, particularly during the summer months, and these jobs can be quite difficult because they don’t offer the same benefits or security that full-time positions offer. It’s honestly no way to make a stable living.” 

The Trump administration’s layoffs largely affected full-time staff on probationary status — the one- to two-year period that civil servants must complete before receiving their final appointments.

Many of the terminated employees received similarly worded emails or letters stating, “based on your performance you have not demonstrated that your further employment … would be in the public interest,” despite having received excellent performance reviews or not having worked long enough at the agency to have received a performance review.

Larson concluded by saying that the Trump administration’s workforce reduction effort seems to be aimed at “dismantling our federal agencies without much regard to what services are being lost.” He also warned of a potentially more sinister and concerning motive: the privatization of public lands. 

In 2017, the first Trump administration reduced Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by 50% as part of an effort to open the lands to drilling, mining and other forms of development. 

Now the administration is picking up where it left off. President Trump recently signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund, raising questions about whether the administration will finance it through the sale of public lands.

“My hope is that the protection of our public lands will remain a non-partisan issue,” Larson said. “There’s always been tremendous bipartisan support for national parks and other public lands, but if we inexplicably convert them into a political issue, we could lose our ability to freely enjoy them.”

This post was originally published in College of Natural Resources News.