Eroding protections for public lands
Deep budget and staffing cuts to the U.S. National Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management could affect their ability to effectively care for these lands at a time when they are experiencing record numbers of visitors.
Last year, national parks welcomed more than 332 million visitors, a new high, up 6 million from 2023.
The National Park System has lost 24% of its permanent staff since Trump returned to office in January, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a watchdog advocacy group. The association attributes much of the drop to job cuts and staff taking buyouts offered by Trump's administration. And, the National Forest Service cut about 10% of its workforce as part of the administration's campaign to reduce spending.
This legislation that Trump signed also rescinded funding for conservation and climate resilience projects in national parks and Bureau of Land Management land that was provided in a law signed by his predecessor Joe Biden called the Inflation Reduction Act.
'Unleashing America's economic potential goes hand-in-hand with preserving our public lands, as years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach and neglect of routine management have hindered outdoor recreation opportunities,' the White House said in a statement to Reuters.
Leshy said budget and staffing cuts could be a strategic move by U.S. officials who have long wanted to dispose of public land, pointing to Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and a force behind the Project 2025 initiative that laid out a conservative blueprint for reshaping the U.S. government.
'I think they've decided, looking at the opinion polls, that it's not popular and it's not wise to press for outright selling off or disposing, transferring federal lands. So what they're doing instead is hollowing out their management, is slashing their budgets and slashing the personnel,' Leshy said.
'The aim is, 'Let's make federal management so bad and so dismal that it will change public opinion,'' Leshy added.
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