Montana’s National Parks Face Historic Budget Cuts

Since January, the National Park Service has lost 24% of its permanent staff. Congress is now weighing three proposals for the Park Service budget, and there could be even more cuts if the proposed budget passes.  

President Trump’s budget proposal could see a $1 billion cut to the Park Service budget. That would be the biggest cut in the history of the agency. There’s a Senate bill proposed that would reject these cuts. 

What the Proposed Cuts Mean for Montana

I spoke with Michelle Uberuaga, Yellowstone Senior Program Manager, about what those budget cuts would mean for our parks, especially here in Montana.  

Yellowstone Expert Explains the Impacts

So far, the loss of staff has affected parks in Montana. It’s not just the employees who work in the visitor centers, according to Uberuaga. 

They are critically important to maintaining and managing our national parks, and those cuts were pretty arbitrary. So, we lost a lot of different folks, working in maintenance, to plow the roads, to keep the water running, folks in interpretive services. that welcome visitors, people at the front gates. So, the impacts were really far-reaching. 

The money our parks bring into Montana is big. According to Uberuaga, our National Parks in Montana bring in a billion dollars. Every dollar invested in our parks brings back $15 to our communities.  

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There are 433 parks in the U.S., and according to Uberuaga, if this budget is passed, we could see a closure of up to 350 parks.  

There is an important part of this Senate bill that Montanans may be passionate about. The Senate bill would stop any sell-off or transfer of national park land to private entities. It would help keep our parks in public hands.  

To learn more about the proposed budget cuts, you can visit npca.org/saveparks. 

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If you want your voice to be heard, you can reach out to Montana’s Congressional Delegation and let them know your thoughts.  

You can hear the interview with Michelle Uberuaga below.