The House Natural Resources Committee pushed through an amendment that would allow federal lands near Zion National Park to be sold/Rebecca Latson file

It’s unusual for members of Congress to have nothing to say on legislation. But there was ample silence from Republicans when the House Natural Resources Committee crafted how and where to slash Interior Department and other agencies’ funding, including for the National Park Service.

Despite the long-held evidence that there has been bipartisan support for national parks, GOP support on the committee for parks was muted as the Republican majority pushed through cuts to the Park Service to help forward President Donald Trump’s agenda, by way of his “big, beautiful bill” that is winding through the congressional process.

Democrats hearing for the first time about proposed public lands sales in four Nevada counties and one in Utah — including lands near Zion National Park — wanted to know more. Why had there been no public hearings, for instance, and where were the maps showing lands to be sold?

They got no reply from the proposal’s sponsor, Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada and other GOP members, led by Chairman Bruce Westerman of Arkansas.

“This amendment is a blatant attempt to dispose of our nation’s public lands through a backdoor deal without any public input or accountability. One area on the chopping block is directly adjacent to Zion National Park and another lines the scenic byway visitors travel to enter the park," said the National Parks Conservation Association's Southwest campaign director, Cory MacNulty.

“Let’s call this what it is: an attempt by some members of Congress to auction off America’s public lands," she added. "If approved, these lands would be handed over to local counties, where they could be appraised and sold off to the highest bidder without any public process, environmental review or community engagement. Once public land is transferred, it could be turned into luxury housing, hotels, data centers, or something else entirely."

It was the same blank wall from GOP members on other key Democratic questions during the 13-hour-long session where more than 100 amendments were considered for the so-called reconciliation bill that will generate revenue for priorities set by Trump and the Republican-majority Congress.

The bill, which cleared the Natural Resources Committee last week almost on a party-line vote (Rep. Adam Gray, D-CA, voted in favor), would slash more than half of the $500 million provided under President Joe Biden for Park Service staff increases and conservation and ecosystem restoration work. And while the committee cut $12 million intended for climate-change resiliency and ecosystem projects, the measure is murky on exactly which Park Service projects will be scraped if the federal government’s Fiscal 2025 budget is adopted by Congress without changes. Also tossed in was a grab bag of pro-energy development planks.

The committee haggling was a microcosm of congressional Republicans determined to hew closely to the president’s desires while Democrats strive to minimize what they see as unnecessary damage to the government and its agencies.

In the case of Interior and Park Service funding, what Westerman and his allies view as wasteful spending Democrats see as prudent funding for an agency — the Park Service — that long has been underfunded and understaffed, and is challenged by climate-change impacts to the parks amid record visitation.

To achieve their desires, Republicans on the committee operated in relative silence in the face of concerns and questions voiced by Democrats. None of the representatives representing the four Nevada counties where land would be sold under the committee-approved bill – Steven Horsford, Susie Lee and Dina Titus, all of them Democrats – were consulted on Amodei’s amendment, said Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands.

The federal land in Utah targeted for sale is in the district of Amodei’s co-sponsor, Republican Celeste Maloy. She expressed her support.

“I don’t think we should proceed until we have had an opportunity to hear from them [the Nevada representatives] about whether or not they believe these lands ought to be conveyed,” said Neguse.

Amodei acknowledged he had not consulted with the three Democrats about the amendment.

Jared Huffman, a California representative who is the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, cited a recent Westerman quote in E&E News in which he said he would never “bend on selling the nation’s public lands.”

“Mr. Chairman, are you bending now?” asked Huffman.

Westerman grinned slightly but said nothing.

Amodei’s land-sales amendment is included in the committee "print" — the legislative language the Natural Resources Committee approved 26 to 17 and forwarded to the House Budget Committee tasked with drafting what’s known as the reconciliation bill for Fiscal 2025.

The reconciliation process allows passage of certain spending-related legislation with a majority vote, avoiding the prospect of filibuster in the Senate that requires 60 votes to overcome.

The committee’s bill would rescind about $267 million of $500 million provided in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for the Park Service to hire additional staff through 2030—what Westerman called a “bureaucratic slush fund” — signed into law by Biden.

“For too long politicians in Washington have been content to spend like there’s no tomorrow without a single thought to the fiscal ramifications. That’s why this bill takes a hard look at the programs under our jurisdiction, cuts wasteful programs and incentivizes resource production to generate revenue,” said Westerman in his opening statement.

Neguse’s amendment to strike the language rescinding Park Service funds to hire additional staff was defeated 18 to 25.

The committee’s effort follows in the wake of actions the Trump administration took on Valentine’s Day to fire about 1,000 probationary employees who had worked for the agency, or in a new position, for less than a year. A subsequent court ruling allowed the employees to be reinstated. But at the same time, an estimated 2,500 Park Service employees took the administration's offer to retire now and be paid through the end of the fiscal year.

“Rather than supporting our park staff during this challenging time, Congress is doubling down, further straining an overwhelmed Park Service,” said Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.

NPS staffing levels are stretched thin, having dropped by more than 3 percent from 2014 to 2023, while park visitation increased from 293 million to 326 million, according to the Congressional Research Service.

“For months, Congress has stood on the sidelines while the administration works to dismantle the National Park Service and relentlessly attack the dedicated staff who work tirelessly every day to take care of America’s most cherished places,” said Brengel.

“Now, when given an opportunity to stand up for our most beloved public servants, they do the exact opposite, robbing the Park Service of critical staffing money and instead prioritizing parties and a statue garden,” she said, referring to the $150 million the committee authorized for 2026 events celebrating the country’s 250 th anniversary, and $40 million for a National Garden of Heroes.

Proposed by Trump during his first term, the sculpture garden would feature 250 life-sized statues of Americans who contributed to the nation’s cultural, scientific, and economic and political heritage.

Huffman labeled Republicans’ fixation on the sculpture garden “a distraction” keeping them from supporting national parks and their key staff.

“Without support, the party is going to be over for our national parks,” the Democrat said.

The committee bill also retracted $12 million provided in the IRA for conservation, resilience and ecosystem restoration projects — another “slush fund,” said Westerman.

“The only thing slushy is my Republican colleagues’ [weak] commitment to helping the national parks with climate resilience and restoration,” said Huffman, noting there were twice as many projects as available funding.

Exactly which projects would lose funding due to the rescission was not immediately available, but the provisions apply to NPS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) efforts.

Several Park Service projects affecting natural, cultural and archaeological resources funded through the IRA are likely to be affected. These could include:

• $4 million to improve the ecological health and resilience of eastern forests at 39 park units, including Antietam and Manassas National Battlefield Parks and Prince William Forest Park, all in Virginia, along with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. The plan was to remove non-native invasive plants, plant native trees, manage deer populations and protect endangered species; 
• $757,000 to create a database integrating cultural resource data from Gettysburg National Military Park and Valley Forge National Historical Park, both in Pennsylvania, and Richmond National Battlefield Park in Virginia with information about the climate stressors and vulnerability at these park units to improved decision; and 
• $1 million to support a collaboration among the Wabanaki Tribes in Maine and Canada, the University of Maine and Parks Canada to protect cultural sites at Acadia National Park and Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, both in Maine, and Roosevelt Campobello International Park in Canada. All three parks are impacted by rising sea level, flooding and extreme weather events.

In another matter, the committee greenlit the proposed 211-mile-long Ambler Road connecting the Ambler Mining District with the Dalton Highway in Alaska. The road would serve development of copper and zinc mines primarily on BLM property, but about 20 miles of it would cross the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve where there are no roads.

The Biden administration last year blocked the road, overturning an approval granted during Trump’s first term, due to the threats the Democratic administration said mining would pose to the air, water, wildlife, including caribou, and Alaska Native communities.

To further support Trump’s priorities, the committee print approves revenue-raising measures such as onshore oil and gas lease sales, offshore leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, geothermal lease sales, coal leasing on federal lands, and increases in timber sales.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the measure would generate $18.5 billion in revenues for the federal government that could be used for tax reductions, spending and other purposes across the federal government.

Language approved by the House Natural Resources Committee is expected to be folded into a much larger bill with provisions from other Congressional committees and meshed together by the House Budget Committee in the reconciliation bill. However, that bill stalled Friday due to objections from some Republicans who said it didn’t cut enough government spending.