Stop cutting national park staff, Republicans, Democrats urge Trump officials

David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau on Dec 23, 2025

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WASHINGTON — California Democratic and Republican members of Congress have come together to strongly urge the Trump administration to stop cutting jobs at national parks, saying the reductions have hurt emergency response efforts and park upkeep.

The 28 lawmakers wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that at Yosemite National Park, staffing reductions and more visitors led to a 40% increase in search and rescue missions from January to July over the same period last year.

At Joshua Tree National Park, the lawmakers said, “staffing shortages have reduced fee-booth coverage and eliminated evening shifts, limiting visitor safety information, cutting needed fee revenue, and increasing the likelihood of congestion and search-and-rescue incidents.”

The National Park Service has not responded to a request from The Bee for comment.

Nearly one-fourth of parks’ staff out

The letter, which also cites staffing reductions at other national parks around the country, was signed by Reps. Doris Matsui, R-Sacramento; Jay Obernolte, R-Apple Valley; Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii and Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., among others.

They said since the start of the year, the park service has fired or lost more than 24% of its staff.

Those reductions, they said in a statement, have meant “significant challenges at National Parks including decreased capacity for emergency response and disruptions to visitor services, infrastructure maintenance, and conservation work.”

There appear to be more plans to cut jobs at the park service.

“We recognize the importance of efficiency within the federal government,” the congressional letter said.

As a result, they added, “We respectfully encourage you to work directly with NPS career professionals, including regional directors, associate directors, and Senior Executive Service staff, to identify practical solutions to staffing constraints.”

Among others signing the letter were Reps. Doug LaMalfa, R-Chico; Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville; Young Kim, R-Anaheim; Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael and David Valadao, R-Hanford.

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