On Monday, CBS Mornings Plus interviewed Emily Pennington, a writer, photographer, and advocate against President Trump’s recent cuts to the National Park Service (NPS), who lashed out at the Trump administration as "vindictive towards the national parks” and warned of the significant hit the parks would take in the coming month:
Right now, the National Park Service has about 16 percent fewer full-time employees than they did just a year ago, and 39 percent fewer seasonal employees, which are the backbone of the summer operations of the national parks when they get really busy and they need extra restroom cleaning, gate operators, people working in different food and beverage operations. So yeah, it's a really staggering time for the parks right now.
While layoffs may have an impact on national parks, the concerns raised by Pennington and others should be tempered.
Part of the difficulty of accurately assessing the situation was the lack of official information given about layoffs. The NPS had not provided an official count of employees let go at each park or what roles any former employees held. However, based on publicly crowdsourced information, the number of employees lost at each national park had been found.
According to the information gathered, only seven out of the 63 national parks had lost more than 10 employees. 41 of the parks had five or less layoffs; 16 of those had none.
While the budget cuts are certainly hard for those who were laid off, they currently pose no clear threat to the state of the National Park System. Some of the employees Pennington listed, such as those working in food and beverage operations, are not federal employees and would not be touched by the cuts.
Still, Pennington tag-teamed with co-hosts Vladimir Duthiers and Adriana Diaz to lay out plans for how visitors can combat the effects of these budget cuts:
I would say just be very, very aware of leaving no trace, making sure you bring extra, maybe, toilet paper and hand sanitizer because the restrooms literally might not be cleaned as often as usual this year. Going early, like, plan a cool sunrise hike or sunrise scenic drive. That way you're not impacting the gate during the very, very busy, you know, late morning/early afternoon hours, things like that.
Of course, there was no evidence that bathrooms would be cleaned less than usual or that entry gates would be understaffed. With the lack of information available on the firings, such statements are purely conjecture intended to spread fear over Trump’s budget.
Duthiers lamented that America had strayed from President Roosevelt’s vision for our national parks:
It feels almost as if we are so far removed from what Teddy Roosevelt planned and intended for us with national parks with the way that we behave now.
(...)
I do encourage everyone to go back and read what Teddy Roosevelt wrote about why he was creating these national parks.
Interestingly, what Roosevelt had to say about national parks included very little mention of the NPS. In fact, the NPS was not even founded by Roosevelt. He only protected the land.
Rather than increase spending on the Department of Interior, he, much like Trump today, reduced it, moving the Forest Service to the Department of Agriculture to better manage natural resources and make government spending more efficient.
Budget cuts to the National Park Service were far from an attack on the natural resources of the United States, nor should they be cause for concern. Layoffs are typical in any organization, and the NPS can and will adapt and allocate its resources to meet any challenges that may arise. Luckily, the natural beauty of the parks will still be there, even if getting through the entry gates takes a little bit longer.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CBS Mornings Plus
June 23, 2025
9:43 a.m. EST
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Welcome back to CBS Mornings Plus. Allow us to channel our friends at CBS Sunday Morning with a mini moment in nature. That is old faithful at Yellowstone National Park, one of many parks Americans are visiting this summer. But some parks are feeling the strain of staffing shortages and budget cuts, with potentially more to come. Writer and photographer Emily Pennington visited all 63 national parks and shares stories from her journey in her memoir, Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America's National Parks, and she joins us now to share some insider tips. Good morning!
EMILY PENNINGTON: Good morning. It's great to be here.
DUTHIERS: Good to have you. So we are entering the travel season now. It's going to be very busy. You've reported on the impact of budget cuts, the shortages. It feels almost as if we are so far removed from what Teddy Roosevelt planned and intended for us with national parks with the way that we behave now.
PENNINGTON: Yeah, I mean, originally the national parks were literally set up to be for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people. And right now, unfortunately, we're seeing an administration that's being a bit vindictive towards the national parks. Right now, the National Park Service has about 16 percent fewer full-time employees than they did just a year ago, and 39 percent fewer seasonal employees, which are the backbone of the summer operations of the national parks when they get really busy and they need extra restroom cleaning, gate operators, people working in different food and beverage operations. So yeah, it's a really staggering time for the parks right now.
ADRIANA DIAZ: So it's going to feel a little different possibly for tourists who want to visit these parks this summer. What are your insider tips, having visited all of them, for anyone wanting to visit a park this summer with their family, what should they bring? What should they do? What should they keep in mind?
PENNINGTON: Yeah, absolutely. Well, because there are a lot of staffing cuts and budget cuts as well to the National Park Service, I would say just be very, very aware of leaving no trace, making sure you bring extra, maybe, toilet paper and hand sanitizer because the restrooms literally might not be cleaned as often as usual this year. Going early, like, plan a cool sunrise hike or sunrise scenic drive. That way you're not impacting the gate during the very, very busy, you know, late morning/early afternoon hours, things like that.
DUTHIERS: You know, I do encourage everyone to go back and read what Teddy Roosevelt wrote about why he was creating these national parks…
(...)
