Restore Full Funding and Staffing to the National Park Service

I am writing to urge you to support legislation that protects National Park Service jobs and restores full funding and staffing to this critical agency. Recent workforce reductions have severely compromised the NPS's ability to serve the American people. Full-time Park Service employment has dropped to just 12,600 employees, a 24 percent decline since the start of this administration. According to John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations for the National Parks Conservation Association, more than 4,000 permanent employees have been eliminated through layoffs, buyouts, firings, and forced resignations. These losses include scientists, historians, archeologists, water and air quality specialists, and climate change specialists whose expertise is essential for protecting our natural and cultural heritage. This workforce crisis is occurring while our parks face record visitation. The park system received nearly 332 million visitors in 2024, yet fewer seasonal employees were hired than usual. The remaining staff are stretched dangerously thin, unable to adequately maintain facilities, protect resources, or ensure visitor safety. Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, describes current morale as the worst he has seen in over 60 years of affiliation with the NPS. The National Park Service is the most popular federal agency in America. A Pew Research Center survey from August 2024 found that 76 percent of Americans give it a favorable rating, including 78 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats. This bipartisan support reflects the deep value Americans place on our national parks. I urge you to cosponsor and advance legislation that blocks future mass firings at the NPS and ensures adequate funding for full staffing levels. Our parks belong to all Americans and deserve the resources necessary to preserve them for future generations. The current trajectory threatens to undermine an agency that has served this nation with distinction for over a century.