Former park managers protest secret NPS reorganization
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) America’s national parks are in crisis and the Trump administration needs to quickly change course in order to prevent irreversible damage, according to national park leaders.
Last week, 20 retired national park superintendents and commissioners sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, saying they hoped the rumors they’d heard about organizational change to the National Park Service weren’t true, because Americans have a lot to lose.
“We don’t say this lightly, but our national parks are in crisis, and your actions are making things considerably worse. And without a serious course correction, and soon, our national parks, the national jewels of our nation, could suffer irreversible damage and visitors could be put at great risk,” the superintendents wrote in a Sept. 2 letter coordinated by The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
On Aug. 25, the news outlet “News of the United States” or NOTUS reported that the Department of the Interior had reassigned 30 of its most senior staffers from several agencies to positions in other agencies outside of their expertise. That represents about 20% of the senior career employees who still remain after the Trump administration offered resignation and retirement incentives to eliminate 40% of senior workers last year.
The employees were given two weeks to decide whether they’d accept their new jobs or resign. One of the employees who was reassigned to a different bureau described the reassignments as “punitive.”
“They want us all to leave and be replaced by more politicals,” the employee told NOTUS.
Then, last week, National Park Service political appointees ordered the superintendents of all national parks to attend an in-person meeting during the week of Sept. 14 “to discuss agency priorities, our FY 2027 outlook and other matters important to the work ahead,” according to NOTUS. With the meeting timed for the end of this fiscal year, staff are anticipating Burgum will follow in the heels of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and announce a major reorganization to enable more Park Service budget cuts.
This prompted the former superintendents to write Burgum, cautioning him against pushing through a poorly planned agency reorganization. They pointed out that the Park Service has already lost many experienced people and is struggling to hire staff or buy the most basic of supplies. The loss of management staff last year has resulted in reduced local decision-making and community engagement while travel and professional training have been curtailed.
“Any reorganization of the National Park Service would be more than a minor management exercise. It can determine who has authority to make decisions, where resources go, what expertise remains in the field, and whether superintendents have the personnel and support they need to protect their parks. Any effort that results in further job loss – or causes already stretched NPS employees to absorb more duties and responsibility – would be devastating to the agency,” the superintendents wrote.
“There is a fundamental difference between reforming an organization and dismantling it. America’s national parks belong to all of us. They are not the property of a president, a Cabinet secretary or a political administration. They belong to the American people—and Congress has entrusted the National Park Service with their care.”
However, based upon information NOTUS reported on Tuesday, the letter may be too late. NOTUS obtained draft internal agency planning documents from late August that outline the significant changes the Trump administration plans for the National Park Service.
Instead of each national park having some autonomy to manage its own resources while answering to regional leadership, the Trump administration plans to set up a “hub-and-spoke” model, where “hub” parks have more power to manage priorities and direction for “spoke” parks. Associated hub-and-spoke parks would have to share agency resources.
The draft documents say the Interior Department anticipates the Park Service would avoid layoffs “in the short term,” but tells officials in prepared talking points to “avoid categorical promises; explain notification process” if asked about staff reductions, according to NOTUS.
Jeff Mow, former Glacier National Park superintendent and a 40-year Park Service veteran, was one of the superintendents that signed the letter. He’s concerned that the hub-and-spoke model will leave parks without sufficient resources to meet their needs.
“It’s remarkable, from A to Z, how different units in the National Park Service are and how they have to adapt to location conditions. And that can drive people in D.C. crazy because they really like it when everything fits in neat boxes,” Mow told NOTUS. “And there’s a whole lot about the National Park Service that doesn’t fit into neat boxes.”
NPS appointees developed the plans in secret and have yet to notify Congress of the intent to reorganize the Park Service, according to NOTUS. The Interior Department is reportedly planning on reorganizing other agencies in addition to the Park Service. However, the department is legally obligated to notify Congress of any planned reorganization.
Finally, NOTUS reported on Tuesday that the meeting that superintendents were required to attend next week is now cancelled.
All of this is occurring at the same time that two national parks are facing development threats. In southern Texas, the Trump administration has begun building more roads and a border wall through Big Bend National Park after waiving environmental reviews. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering swapping public land in Yosemite National Park to allow a developer to have a private road into the park from his planned 78-acre gated community. Frank Dean, former president and CEO of the Yosemite Conservancy, said the road could grant unfair access to a small subset of people over other members of the public.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.