A few years ago, the National Park Service was given a half-billion-dollar boost by Congress to increase its ranks.
But those days of congressional support for hiring are gone — and most of that boost could go, too.
The Republican reconciliation bill that passed the House along party lines earlier this week would make deep cuts in the Biden administration’s landmark renewable energy and environment law — the Inflation Reduction Act — including what remains of a $500 million appropriation to the NPS to recruit and hire park rangers across the country.
Advocates are aghast at the cuts. Daniel Hart, director of clean energy and climate policy at the National Parks Conservation Association, said cutting the IRA funding for new hires is an “ill-timed blow to a struggling National Park Service.”
