In this American moment, there are many concerns and crises. The country’s national park system might not be at the top of everyone’s list, but these parks impact our lives in ways we often don’t realize.
We go to national parks to learn new perspectives, find peace and solitude in nature and history, and make cherished memories with our loved ones. By securing these spaces for us, national parks protect the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we grow.
These public lands hold our history, preserving our culture and the stories that make up our identities and values as Americans. They also provide livelihoods, not only to the rangers who work in them but also to the small communities and businesses that surround them, contributing almost $56 billion annually to the nation’s economy.
People are seeking them out now more than ever: A record number visited National Park Service (NPS) sites in 2024. Plus, the NPS is viewed most favorably of all major federal agencies, with the least amount of partisan division in public opinion of the sixteen agencies included in a Pew Research Center report last year.
Following the events of November 2024, I naïvely thought (or held on to hope) that due to all of these factors and more, the Trump Administration would ignore Project 2025 and avoid damaging cuts to the agency. How could they come after an agency that is so beloved by such a vast majority of Americans?
But if we’ve learned anything over the past nine months, it’s that we must not underestimate the carnage this administration will enthusiastically inflict on people and institutions. The NPS is currently navigating a 24 percent cut to its permanent staff and has lost more than $260 million in funding, in addition to a federal hiring freeze and additional cuts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Many permanent positions simply can’t be filled during the busiest seasons, and seasonal hiring delays also heavily impact operations.
The Trump Administration is also directing NPS units to rewrite history by Executive Order, soliciting visitors to report via QR code “negative” signage and exhibits that in fact explain the complex and nuanced history of our nation’s integral moments of progress.
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Mary Grace Larson
Capitol Reef National Park in June 2024.
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Mary Grace Larson
The author at Mount Rainier National Park.
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Mary Grace Larson
Denali National Park in August 2025.
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Mary Grace Larson
Research team members Mary Grace Larson and Jess Henry, with one of the “Rosies” at Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park in July 2024.
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Mary Grace Larson
Yosemite National Park in July 2024.
Our national parks are under attack in more ways than this, but what’s happening on the ground? I spent the past two years traveling to twenty-three different NPS sites for graduate research and formerly worked for the service in Glacier National Park in Montana. My research team studies ranger-led public programs in national parks, such as guided hikes, tours, and campground programs. We systematically observe these programs and survey the audience about the experience afterward. I’ve spent a lot of time with frontline interpretive rangers and audiences, and the questions and comments expressing support for these brave public servants have been abundant since January.
In March, I observed several visitors to California and Nevada’s Death Valley asking rangers leading programs about the challenges the park is facing, and expressing their dismay at what DOGE was doing to the National Park Service.
One question on our survey that audience members fill out asks them to write out what this program inspired them to do. While entering the data, we noticed that many participants wrote comments such as, “Vote against Trump and anyone who doesn’t support the national parks,” and, “Write Congress to stop the terminations of the employees.”
Visitors are also flooding the QR code system for reporting signage and exhibits with messages of support for the NPS and irrelevant comments to slow down the review process.
Fighting the attacks against the NPS is certainly at the top of park visitors’ minds, and the battle is being brought to the streets as well. Grassroots organizations like the Resistance Rangers and The Wilderness Society have been organizing resistance and resilience, getting the word out through podcasts and social media channels, and rallying protests across the country.
Alt National Park Service is another grassroots group of NPS supporters who use social media to motivate action. With more than 4.4 million followers on Facebook, the group uses its platform to spread information and call out outrageous attacks by the Trump Administration.
NPS employees are also unionizing through the National Federation of Federal Employees, the National Treasury Employees Union, and others to protect against additional threats, including at Yosemite National Park and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. They join other NPS units that have unionized in the past.
Despite illegal firings, understaffing, burnout, and other daily challenges, brave public servants continue to show up with passion and joy for the stewardship of what environmentalist Wallace Stegner called America’s “best idea.” With a smile, they demonstrate resilience to hundreds of visitors at an information desk, grit their teeth against the pouring rain while conducting plant surveys, and paddle dozens of miles to set nets that remove invasive fish species. They haven’t given up, and neither should we.
“I’m incredibly heartened by people stepping up to advocate for national parks,” one NPS worker told me. “Through this work, they’re recognizing the power they have to make a difference when they get organized. It makes me hopeful to see these people finding their voices and learning how to make change, both in parks and in their own communities.”
The massive outcry and collective action from those who love public lands have worked in some regards. In June, the Senate removed a provision from Trump’s budget bill that would have sold off millions of acres of public lands, a major win. While the fight is ongoing, there is no shortage of passionate people who believe in the agency’s mission to preserve “unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”
The U.S. National Park System represents more than historic buildings, forests, mountains, and rivers. It includes crucial spaces that hold our shared history, biodiversity, and the promise of a livable future. These spaces belong to each and every one of us, not corporations or politicians.
Now, more than ever, we need bold voices, fierce protectors, and unwavering advocates to stand up against exploitation and greed. Whether you’re hiking a trail, sharing science, organizing your community, or calling out injustice, you are part of a powerful movement. And you can take action right now. (Personally, I love the 5 Calls app, which helps to streamline daily advocacy by helping constituents contact their representatives about issues that matter to them.)
Every action matters. Every voice counts. Together, we can defend the wild and historic places that heal us, ground us, and remind us of what’s worth fighting for.