Urgent: Fully Fund and Staff Our National Parks to Protect America's Natural Heritage

The recent protests at Glacier National Park highlight a critical issue facing our national parks: severe understaffing and underfunding. Despite record-breaking visitation of 331.9 million people last year, our parks have lost nearly a quarter of their permanent staff. This situation is untenable and threatens the preservation of America's natural heritage. At Glacier National Park, a 25% loss in staff has left the park unable to adequately maintain facilities and infrastructure. This is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a larger problem affecting national parks across the country. The consequences are dire: compromised safety, inadequate emergency response capabilities, and the potential privatization of our public lands. I urge you to take immediate action to fully fund our national parks and federal lands. This means not only restoring cut positions but also increasing budgets to hire additional staff to manage the growing number of visitors. Furthermore, with the increasing threat of wildfires, we need more personnel dedicated to wildfire risk management and firefighting. The bipartisan support for the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 demonstrated that protecting our national parks is not a partisan issue. However, there's a disconnect between congressional support for funding projects and the actual staffing levels in our parks. It's time to bridge this gap. Our national parks face unprecedented challenges, from record visitation to the impacts of climate change. Glacier National Park, for instance, is predicted to lose its namesake glaciers in the coming decades. We need a robust, well-staffed National Park Service to address these challenges and ensure the preservation of these natural wonders for future generations. I implore you to act now. Increase funding for national parks in the next budget, mandate the rehiring of cut positions, and allocate resources for additional staff to meet current demands. Our national parks are indeed our national jewels, and they deserve nothing less than our full support and protection.