Photo Courtesy Caldera Action
BY TOM RIBE
Caldera Action
The gate is open at the Valles Caldera National Preserve and the public can get in as far as the Contact Station. It appears that hunters, blocked from using their state issued hunting permits within the Preserve early in the government shutdown, persuaded Senator Heinrich and others to get the Preserve open for hunting. The public has some limited driving access as a result and may get a permit to drive into the backcountry.
Preserve staff does not answer phones or return calls due to the government shutdown. It is likely the National Park Service staff at the Preserve is working without pay as are so many federal workers during the ongoing shutdown. In the meantime, the public is welcome to hike the trails. The Valle Grande is closed to hunting.
Bandelier remains closed, however you can hike in the Bandelier Wilderness providing you don’t pass a closed gate on the way in.
Trump Threats to the Park Service Continue
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum continues to follow the lead of Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought who has been making drastic staffing cuts in many agencies around the federal government including the National Park Service, NOAA, and now NASA. Since Trump returned to the White House, the NPS has lost a quarter of its staff nationally and Burgum announced that the administration would seek to close the NPS regional offices and fire much of the staff at the Washington Office. The administration has not said how they would replace the functions of these support offices.
Trump never nominated a NPS director in his first term and apparently, he won’t in this term either. Trump refers to the National Park Service and other science and land management agencies as “democrat agencies” and has vowed to continue cuts even though national parks have enjoyed bipartisan support for more than 100 years and are big drivers of economic activity, especially in rural red areas.
Meanwhile Vought planned a large reduction in force (RIF) at the Park Service during the shutdown but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in California issued an injunction barring any RIFs during the shutdown and so far, Vought has complied with that order. The danger remains that once the government shutdown is resolved, mass firings could resume.
If Trump’s people know what their overall plan for the national parks is, they are not telling anyone. Do they plan to keep firing NPS staff for the next three years until the agency is no longer functioning? Do they plan to fire all NPS staff? Do they have a plan for how the national parks will function with drastically reduced staffing? Do they plan to transfer the parks to the states and counties and sell parks to billionaires? Do they have some other idea? If Burgum has a plan beyond demoralizing the staff and damaging the parks by understaffing and budget cuts, he is not letting on.
To date the staffing levels at Bandelier and the Valles Caldera have not been reduced substantially.
Congress is hearing from the public about these threats to the national parks and it could be that Burgum and Vought are pausing their attack on the national parks for now to see how the political winds are blowing. Last Tuesday’s election could have given a hint.
The budget for the National Park Service nationally is 1/15th of 1% of the federal budget. Thus, the staffing cuts may not to be budgetary but rather ideological in nature. The Trump crew has been making major cuts to staff and activities at the EPA, the US Forest Service, and the BLM and other scientific agencies like NOAA and NASA.
Meanwhile national parks around the country are not collecting fees during the shutdown. When the parks are open normally, the NPS collects about $1 million per day nationally. At places like the Grand Canyon, the gates are wide open, and the public can drive in without a fee and are unlikely to encounter NPS staff during their visit. Volunteers are keeping an eye on park resources and law enforcement rangers are one duty. At Yosemite, the limited law enforcement staff has been struggling to get illegal activities like base jumping under control during the shutdown.
Does this lack of staffing appeal to Doug Burgum and and align with his vision for the parks over the longer term? It is hard to imagine an American who doesn’t love the national parks, but Trump may have found one in Doug Burgum.
What you Can Do
Write to your Congressional delegation and express your views on the state of our public lands. It will do good as they guage broader public opinion by the messages they receive.