“Parks in Peril:” A Decade of Starving the National Park Service Budget
- Dr. Jessie Virga
- 3 days ago
- 23 min read
Treasured Parks on the Chopping Block
America’s national parks, from Yosemite’s granite cliffs to the Everglades’ wetlands, are under siege, not by wildfires or floods, but by chronic underfunding and budget cuts. Over the past decade (FY2014-FY2023), Congress’s appropriations for the National Park Service (NPS) crept up only modestly: from $2.56 billion to $3.48 billion in discretionary funding – a 36% rise in nominal dollars but a scant 7% increase when adjusted for inflation [1]. In real terms, the park service’s budget barely grew, even as visitation soared and 26 new park units were added to the system [2][3]. Now, recent and ongoing budget proposals threaten to reverse even those meager gains. The current Administration’s FY2026 plan, spearheaded by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, calls for savage cuts, a one-third reduction of NPS’s operating budget, that imperil the very mission of our parks [4].
This article (this very long article) presents a ten-year analysis of NPS funding trends, contrasts requested vs. actual funding, and highlights the on-the-ground consequences of fiscal neglect: staffing shortages, crumbling infrastructure, program cuts, and the erosion of the natural and historic legacy that park rangers and volunteers have fought to protect. The tone here is one of outraged advocacy; on behalf of environmental professionals, park staff, volunteers, and the American public who cherish and rely on our public lands. The message is clear: these budget choices have direct human, ecological, and national consequences, and Congress must act to fully fund the NPS and reverse this harmful trend.
