The Trump administration’s plan to cut more than 2,000 employees at the Interior Department would eliminate 1 in 4 national park employees who work in targeted support hubs across the country.
In total, at least 272 staffers would be cut under the plan out of roughly 1,100 positions at park offices that the Interior Department named for potential cuts, in documents filed with a California federal court.
Regional staff do park planning and design major construction projects like new buildings, roads and trails. They design exhibits, curate museum collections and prioritize where project funding should be spent across the region. The regional employees are also responsible for ensuring parks comply with agency policies, laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and agency standards, as well as hold trainings and perform inspections and audits.
Six of the 10 employees at the Chesapeake Bay Watershed office, which manages the National Park Service’s work within the Chesapeake Bay and its 41-million-acre watershed in Virginia and Maryland, would be cut. Other cuts include 40 staff positions at the NPS Service Center in Denver, which oversees park construction projects, 69 staff positions in the Southeast regional office, 63 staffers in the Northeast region and 57 positions in the Pacific Northwest regional office.
