The has severely impacted national parks across the country 鈥� leaving park rangers with skeleton crews, halting crucial conservation work, and elevating concerns about park safety.
That has some National Park Service advocates worried that, once the ongoing quarrel in Congress is over, the agency鈥檚 staff might shrink, impacting park quality.
Historically, workplace conditions at the National Park Service have been 鈥� with park rangers working more with less.
Some estimates say the agency has lost over 19% of funding and a sizable 16% reduction in staff amid increases in visitation.
Now, the Department of the Interior is in a widespread push to reduce the executive branch鈥檚 workforce and save money amidst the government shutdown. A judge has layoffs that already happened or are pending.
鈥淚 think morale is the worst it's ever been, to be perfectly honest,鈥� Bob Krumenaker, a representative from the told 九色网.
Krumenaker is retired, but worked for the National Park Service for 41 years 鈥� including two stints in New Mexico and as the superintendent of in Texas during President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term. He now lives in southern New Mexico.
While Krumenaker is always worried about vandalism during shutdowns, especially like , he鈥檚 become more concerned about the Park Service losing the energetic, young, and passionate people who make visiting national parks enjoyable.
鈥淓ven when we get over the shutdown, it's going to be really, really difficult to sustain the quality natural and cultural resource management and the quality visitor experience that the people have come to expect of their national park system,鈥� Krumenaker said.
Thanks to the shutdown, Krumenaker said that people will most likely try to find other alternatives to get paid.
鈥淧lus, the erosion of people willing to work for an agency that doesn't show love back to them,鈥� he added.
National parks are a huge economic boon for states like New Mexico, creating a $511 million economic output in 2024 alone, from New Mexico State University.
While a majority of national parks continue to stay open during the shutdown, park facilities that are usually locked at night 鈥� such as a majority of or smaller parks that serve as a house museum 鈥� may not be open to the public.
Similarly, staff reductions will likely affect revenue, as collecting has become a major challenge. Revenue generated from gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and recreational services is at the core of community economies around national parks.
Overall, the public overwhelmingly supports the National Park Service. Recent bipartisan polling shows it is one of the most popular federal agencies in America, with an 86% approval rate.
For now, Congress still seems no closer to a solution over a budget stalemate between Republicans and the Democrats, who want to extend . they are open to health care negotiations, but only after Congress passes a temporary stopgap funding measure to reopen the government.
Currently, this is the second longest shutdown in U.S. history 鈥� trailing behind the 35 day shutdown in 2018-19 under the first Trump administration. As of Tuesday, Oct. 21, around .
