Position on H.R. 8998, FY25 Interior Appropriations

On behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association’s (NPCA) more than 1.6 million members and supporters nationwide, I write to express our strong opposition to the FY25 Interior and Environment appropriations bill and urge you to oppose it. Since 1919, NPCA has been the leading voice of the American people in protecting and enhancing our National Park System and we know that funding our parks is one of their most urgent needs. The funding levels and numerous policy riders in the bill are unsustainable and would cause lasting damage to our parks, the people who cherish them and the health of the environment on which they depend.

The bill seeks to cut the National Park Service (NPS) budget by an alarming 10.8% ($360 million), which would cause significant harm to our parks, as well as NPS programs that support communities throughout the country. This includes an unrealistic, deeply damaging cut of 6% ($ 179 million) to the Operation of the National Park System, which is essential for staffing and other basic national park operating needs. A cut of this magnitude would almost certainly result in the loss of at least one thousand rangers and other staff, which would significantly undermine protection of natural and cultural resources as well as the visitor services on which American families rely for safe and inspiring park experiences. NPS would also have to absorb $46 million in uncontrollable fixed costs. This would come on top of the FY24 cut to park operations, the first in a decade, that—combined with fixed costs—forced the park service to absorb over $150 million in losses. These draconian cuts, on top of this year’s losses, would leave superintendents little choice but to leave positions lapsed, cut down on seasonal rangers, furlough staff, and reduce hours or close facilities important to visitors. Enacting a cut this deep would be unprecedented in modern history if not in the entire history of the National Park Service.

Making matters worse, the bill also cuts park construction funding by 21% ($37 million), which would only lead to the growth of the deferred maintenance and repairs backlog that has attracted bipartisan concern and support for addressing it. The bill also includes a 10% cut to the Historic Preservation Fund, undermining tribes’ and communities’ efforts to protect and interpret our historic and cultural legacy. The bill also deeply cuts funding for clean air and water and endangered species programs, all of which are important to the health of parks, their wildlife, the people who staff and visit them, and communities throughout the country who have a right to a healthy environment.

We also urge you to oppose this bill because of the alarming number of policy riders that harm parks, communities and the environment and climate on which they depend. For instance, the bill threatens water quality in Voyageurs National Park and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by reversing a mining ban that would prevent toxic mining in the Rainy River Watershed in Northern Minnesota. The bill also undermines efforts to address the climate crisis that is devastating national parks and communities. It eviscerates endangered species protections for iconic wildlife, undermines conservation of park ecosystems in favor of extractive land use and prevents policies that ensure recruitment and retention of a diverse, effective workforce.

This unrealistic bill would set our national parks back significantly, harming resource protection and the visiting experience so important to over three hundred million national park visitors annually—in addition to the economies of countless gateway communities that rely on their spending. It would also undermine progress toward addressing climate change and significantly harm our air, water and wildlife.

We urge you to oppose this deeply damaging and unrealistic bill and instead work with the Senate to produce a bipartisan bill that can move forward without deep cuts and harmful policy riders.