The US Public Loves the National Park Service. Trump Is Destroying It Anyway.

If there is one thing Americans love, it’s our national parks. A record-setting 331 million people visited the 63 national parks in 2024 — a number roughly equivalent to the entire U.S. population. Park visitors spend tens of billions each year on lodging, restaurants, and travel expenses, significantly boosting local economies. The National Park Service is the most popular government agency, with just 7 percent of polled Americans rating it as unfavorable. And the people want it funded: Just 17 percent of polled U.S. residents support reducing funding for the National Park Service and other agencies that manage federal lands.

Yet none of this has deterred Donald Trump and congressional Republicans from seeking to devastate the National Park Service.

Trump’s proposed FY 2026 budget would slash $1.2 billion from the National Park Service budget — the largest proposed cut in the agency’s 109-year history, according to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a nonprofit advocacy organization. Trump’s budget proposes cuts to National Park Service recreation and preservation programs, natural resource programs, and cultural programs, as well as cutting both seasonal positions and more than 5,500 full-time roles.