by Julia Pierrepont III
LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Reactions are strong to the Trump Administration's proposed 2026 budget cuts released last week, which include deep cuts to the national park and forest services that could drastically reduce staff and close parks nationwide.
"This is the beginning of the end for America's legendary national park and forest services," Julie S., a forest ranger with the national forest service in California, told Xinhua on Tuesday.
"With so many staff laid off, who is going to maintain the parks, reduce wildfire risk and protect the safety of our wildlife and park visitors?" she asked.
If approved, the budget would cut more than 1 billion U.S. dollars from the National Park Service -- making it the largest funding reduction in the agency's 109-year history.
U.S. President Donald Trump also proposed turning some park sites over to state control, which could remove them from the National Park System entirely -- a move never before attempted by any U.S. president in history, since states typically don't have the means on their own to support them.
"Our national parks and forests are a legacy for the American people and the entire world," Professor Ed M., a resident of Colorado, told Xinhua on Monday. He took his kids to enjoy a different magnificent park each summer.
"National parks were first started in 1909 by a great American president, wilderness enthusiast, Teddy Roosevelt, then nationalized in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson as an antidote to the horrors of WWI."
"Now, Trump will go down in history as the clueless loser who destroyed them," he lamented. "One man shouldn't have the power to ruin it for all the rest of us."
American national parks, with their iconic, unspoiled natural beauty and unique ecosystems, are widely considered the scenic benchmarks for nature parks all over the world.
"What's next," worried Siri S., a visitor from Scandinavia. "Is Trump going to turn the Grand Canyon into a landfill dump?"
Trump's proposal came at a time when national parks are more popular than ever. In 2024, over 331 million people visited national parks across the country.
If these budget cuts go through, the result would be fewer rangers, shuttered visitor centers, canceled programs, and a serious decline in park maintenance.
The National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service both have already lost thousands of employees. More than 2,400 National Park Service staff -- over 10 percent of the workforce -- are gone, many due to forced resignations or early retirements.
The U.S. Forest Service was hit even harder, losing about 3,400 employees, including rangers, trail crews, and wilderness responders.
The impact of these layoffs is already being felt. Parks have to reduce their hours, closed visitor centers, and canceled tours. At some sites, trails have been shut down indefinitely. Long lines of cars waited to enter the Grand Canyon over Presidents' Day weekend because there weren't enough workers to staff the gates.
Theresa Pierno, head of the National Parks Conservation Association, called this budget cut "the most extreme and destructive" in the National Park Service's history.
She said it threatens the very idea of national parks -- places that are meant to be protected forever for everyone to enjoy.
According to Pierno, giving park sites to states isn't just risky -- it's a betrayal of the public's trust. States often don't have the funding or resources to manage these lands properly, and if they can't afford it, sites may close or even be privatized.
Many of the 430+ places managed by the National Park Service aren't traditional "national parks" but include monuments, lake shores, battlefields, and seasides -- like the Canaveral National Seashore in Florida and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan. These places are important for both natural beauty and cultural history, and handing them off to states could mean the end of their protection.
In Washington state, wilderness ranger Kate White used to carry hundreds of pounds of trash out of the mountains each summer and helped rescue hikers in danger. Now her job could go, and she feared for the safety of visitors and the health of the fragile ecosystems she once helped protect.
She said on her Instagram page that it hurts to read the words "the Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest."
A report from PBS shared White and other U.S. Forest Service rangers' struggling situation. Many of them still in their probationary period received notice on Feb. 13 that they were fired by the Trump administration, but on May 5 those workers got word they had been temporarily reinstated for 45 days by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
There's no information yet to indicate whether the positions might be eliminated again after the 45-day period, and these workers worried about what impact a potential mid-season disruption might have on recreation and public safety.
In Yosemite, biologist Andria Townsend lost her job tracking endangered species like the Sierra Nevada red fox and the Pacific fisher -- animals already on the brink of extinction. Without monitoring and protection, their future is bleak.
"I am devastated for myself, but also for the team of amazing biologists I supervised, the incredible programs we worked so hard on, and the resources that will suffer across the country because of this," she wrote on her facebook page. "I want to add the administration is claiming they only fired 'poor performers.' That is a lie."
She noted that since her position and projects were all paid by grant funds from local nonprofits, "not a single dime of taxpayer money is being saved by firing me."
Another growing concern is fire safety. While wildland firefighters haven't been laid off, many of the people who help evacuate visitors and check backcountry areas for danger have been. Without them, fire prevention efforts could be seriously hampered, especially during the dry season when wildfires are most common.
"Trump is always complaining about stopping wildfires. Then he needs to put his money where his mouth is and fund the forest service that helps protect our national parks and forests and keep park visitors safe," forest ranger Julie S. told Xinhua.
She's also frustrated that the cuts will mean fewer positions are available for forest and park employees to be promoted over time as part of a normal career trajectory.
"With no opportunities for promotion, that's like asking park or forest rangers to sacrifice their futures," she said.
Local economies around parks could also take a hit. Tourism brings billions of dollars to towns near national parks, and fewer visitors could mean major losses for small businesses that rely on that traffic.
All of this adds up to a future where parks are less accessible, less protected, and less safe. Advocates are urging Congress to reject the proposed cuts and protect the parks Americans love.
These lands belong to everyone -- and unless action is taken soon, some of the most beautiful and historic places in the country could be changed or lost forever, they argued. "It takes over a hundred years to grow a tree. Once it's gone, its gone."
"The Chinese have a wise saying," historian Sam Norton told Xinhua on Tuesday. "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today." ■