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Turmoil, resignations and 'psychological warfare': how Trump is crippling US national parks
Turmoil, resignations and ‘psychological warfare’: how Trump is crippling US national parks
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/28/us-national-parks-trumps
“It’s unbelievable to me that the administration would target the National Park Service to prove their point on the federal budget,” says Kristen Brengel, senior vice-president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association. “It just doesn’t compute.”
But Jarvis believes the assault is not really about the economy or government efficiency. Although the National Park Service experienced cost-cutting and other stresses during the first Trump administration, he fears this time there is a deliberate strategy to prevent national park employees from carrying out their mission to protect irreplaceable resources.
“There are ideologues who want to dismantle the federal government,” he says. “And the last thing they need is a highly popular federal agency that undermines their argument about how the government is dysfunctional.
“So their approach is to make the agency fail,” he adds. “This is their chance to kill the golden goose.”
But Jarvis believes the assault is not really about the economy or government efficiency. Although the National Park Service experienced cost-cutting and other stresses during the first Trump administration, he fears this time there is a deliberate strategy to prevent national park employees from carrying out their mission to protect irreplaceable resources.
“There are ideologues who want to dismantle the federal government,” he says. “And the last thing they need is a highly popular federal agency that undermines their argument about how the government is dysfunctional.
“So their approach is to make the agency fail,” he adds. “This is their chance to kill the golden goose.”
Long but important article about cuts to the NPS.