There is some new information about the job losses at national parks around the country. The National Parks Conservation Association said that after the buyouts and layoffs, about 9% of national parks' permanent staff is gone. That has led to protests in some places around the nation, including some at Yellowstone's north entrance. But not everyone is disappointed with the outcome.
“Remember, we're spending taxpayer dollars. So what President Trump is doing needed to be done. I'm grateful for his courage, his leadership, to do sometimes the hard thing to reduce the size of the federal government,” said Montana Republican U.S. Senator Steve Dainesduring an interview on Newsmax.
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The government cost-cutting group, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) says 34 national park building leases are being terminated. This includes the headquarters of the National Parks Science Directorate in Fort Collins, Colorado, which employs 100 people. Leases are also ending for a National Resources Inventory Center in Arizona, an office for ecosystem restoration in the Everglades, and a biological science center in Moab, Utah.
Retired Yellowstone National Park biologist, Dr. Doug Smith talked about how that is affecting Park Service employees. He said, “[It’s] not good, because science and research depends on clear thinking. It depends on stability. It depends upon you knowing you're going to be there tomorrow. This chaos for in some ways no reason throws all that out the window.”
Senator Daines told MTN News in an email that national parks are the country's "crown jewels" and said, "I've been in close contact with Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly to ensure the park can continue accommodating visitors from far and wide."
A spokesperson for junior Montana U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy wrote us saying, "Senator Sheehy is committed to working with our federal partners to ensure cuts are targeted responsibly, and the critical frontline resources Montanans rely on are protected."
In Yellowstone, park employees monitor scientific research by outside scientists and conduct research themselves. A Park Service report records that 9 percent of Yellowstone research is for physical sciences, 27 percent is for biology, 19 percent for microbiology, 14 percent for ecology, 24 percent for geology, and all the rest is about 7 percent.
WATCH: Full interview with Dr. Doug Smith
Smith observed, “The Park Service is able to set up long-term monitoring over decades of just being there every year, and that is extraordinarily important that other aspects of society are not addressing. The government is very good at that, particularly the National Park Service.”
The National Parks Conservation Association told MTN News the national parks budget for the entire country is one-fifteenth of one percent of the federal budget. That’s about $4.7 billion, but a National Park Service reportsaid parks added more than $55 billion to the economy in 2023 and created 415,400 jobs in communities near parks. Yellowstone alone generated $828 million for local economies.
“The Park Service is built around learning about the park and telling people about it, and that's a multiplying effect for the country,” said Smith.
WATCH RELATED: DOGE set to shut down several Montana government offices
Part of the memo telling agencies to prepare more cuts calls for a reduced real property footprint, also to improve services to citizens while eliminating costs, and advance the president's policy priorities. There is no mention of scientific research.
That prompted Smith to remark, “What's the next problem on the horizon? What's going wrong here with my research system? That's what knowledge and science and research is supposed to think about. Not, am I going to have an office tomorrow? Am I going to have a job tomorrow? How am I going to feed my family? And that's what's hurting us now. You need to keep those people stable, secure, and thinking about what's important.”
