Five Ways President Trump’s Executive Orders Could Harm National Parks

Here’s a brief overview from NPCA’s policy experts, and how our national parks and park staff could be affected.

1. National Park Staffing

The National Park Service is one of our country’s most beloved and respected federal agencies. Park staff care for the irreplaceable natural and cultural resources that make our parks so extraordinary and provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences for millions of visitors every year. It takes thousands of people to protect our national parks. These specialized professionals care for diverse and unique public lands, from endangered species to petroglyphs and fossils. They research and recount for visitors the stories that have helped to define America. And they perform daring searches and rescues, clear trails, clean bathrooms and ensure our national parks are ready for all who visit them.

But at a time when national parks are more popular than ever, the Park Service is struggling to make ends meet. Park staffing has eroded by 15% since 2010, while at the same time, parks have experienced a 16% increase in visitation. At least seven new executive orders could make matters worse. A temporary hiring freeze could lead to even more unfilled positions. Additionally, new staffing-related executive orders could alter job roles in ways that make them more easily subject to reassignment or dismissal. For example, people in senior-level positions could face termination from their jobs if they refuse to implement the administration’s policies.

2. Renewable Energy

Our country has made great progress to address the root cause of climate change — greenhouse gas emissions — by expanding renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. However, three executive orders would undermine this progress by prioritizing fossil fuel extraction on public lands over cleaner alternatives that are critical in the fight against pollution.

Oil and gas production has already hit record highs, with millions of acres of public land currently leased to oil and gas companies, and dozens of national park sites sit next to public lands open to oil and gas drilling. Increased development could harm park air, water, wildlife and visitors. For example, at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, drilling has already disrupted habitat and migration routes for pronghorn and mule deer that go in and out of park boundaries, leading to population declines of park wildlife.

For parks across the West, oil and gas drilling risks critical habitats for a wide array of plant and animal species. Opening even more public lands to drilling could put our most special places at risk, especially without strong safeguards to protect them.

3. Endangered Species Act

Our national parks provide some of the best and last remaining habitats for wildlife, many of which are threatened or endangered. Wildlife viewing remains a top reason people visit national parks and public lands each year. But one of the Trump administration’s new executive orders declared a national energy emergency, allowing the administration to expedite permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands.

One committee of political appointees would be specifically tasked with reviewing requests for exemptions to the Endangered Species Act, potentially allowing companies applying for energy permits to circumvent regulations protecting our most vulnerable plants and animals. This move could enable new energy development in places where this practice is simply not healthy or compatible, destroying critical habitat, disrupting migration and jeopardizing the survival of imperiled wildlife.

4. Alaska’s Ambler Industrial Mining Road

Alaskans and the American public made a resounding call to protect Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve from the damaging Ambler Road proposal, successfully blocking the 211-mile mining road — twice — last year. Staff at the Bureau of Land Management revoked the permits for Ambler Road last year after gathering new information on how the project could harm Alaska Native communities. The road, if established, would bulldoze over thousands of waterways, disrupt America’s largest intact park landscape, block caribou migration routes, and threaten subsistence and traditional lifestyles of local communities.

Unfortunately, an executive order signed by Trump seeks to revisit this decision. NPCA has brought together a strong community of partners and allies over the years in this fight who continue to stand against the proposed Ambler mining road. The strength and voices of this alliance will remain critical in the months and years to come as we continue to defend this landscape, which includes 20 million acres of national parklands.

5. Responsible Hunting Regulations

NPCA has worked for decades to protect bears and wolves in Alaska from irresponsible and non-traditional hunting practices in national preserves managed by the National Park Service. These practices include baiting bears with grease-covered donuts, killing bears hibernating in their dens, and hunting mothers with cubs. The Park Service ended bear baiting at preserves last year, but other irresponsible practices remain legal, and a new executive order directs the agency to revisit the baiting regulation. Of the 54 million acres of national parklands in Alaska, approximately 22 million are managed as national preserves, which allow activities such as fishing and hunting. However, such activities must follow bedrock Park Service guidelines, which prevent hunting methods intended to reduce predator populations to increase game species like elk.

 

Americans love their national parks and want them protected for future generations. However, these recent executive actions could undermine the progress we’ve made for some of our most treasured places and all they hold.

Protecting national parks is our mission and passion, and we work with every political party at all levels of government to defend them. We will continue to closely monitor the implementation of these and other executive orders and make sure that the federal government keeps its promise to protect America’s national parks.

There’s a large volume of news and information circulating right now, and it can feel overwhelming. If you want to learn how park lovers like you can make a difference, check out our new National Park Advocacy Crash Course and join us in protecting America’s national parks.