National Parks Cuts Follow Record-High Visitor Numbers
The National Park Service recorded a record-breaking 331.9 million recreational visits in 2024. This is up 6.36 million from 2023 and surpasses the previous high of 331 million in 2016. The National Park Service releases nationwide data on the previous full year’s visitations by the end of the first quarter of the following year.
According to reporting by the New York Times, an internal memo stated that this year the agency would not be publicizing the data through a press release or “other proactive communications, including social media posts”. The news of record figures comes at a time that U.S. national parks are facing staffing shortages and budget cuts led by DOGE and the Trump administration. According to estimates by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), roughly 13 percent of the National Park Service's staff have left since January of this year as a result of “pressured buyouts, early retirements and deferred resignation”. The NPCA warns that this decline is already coming off the back of wider staffing declines, with levels down 20 percent between 2010 to January this year.
Furthermore, a new Center for American Progress analysis has found that under Trump’s 2026 budget proposal, funding for public land agencies - including the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) - could decrease by more than a third of 2024 levels.
While the effects of fewer staff may not be immediately clear to visitors, employees warn that beneath the surface personnel and resources are already being stretched thin, with many required to take on multiple roles. They also state that parks and forests could not only become less clean but also more dangerous. According to reporting by CBS, this is the case along the shoreline of Maryland's Assateague Island, where there are now fewer lifeguards on site. Meanwhile, authorities at the Grand Canyon National Park have warned hikers that efforts to assist them with rescue teams may be delayed due to limited staff, urging people to take responsibility for their own safety.
In 2024, the National Park Service sites with the most recreation visits were Golden Gate National Recreation Area (17.2M), Blue Ridge Parkway (16.7M), Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.2M), Gateway National Recreation Area (8.9M) and The Lincoln Memorial (8.5M).