House Criticized For Passing Anti-Parks, Anti-Environment Budget Bill

A massive budget reconciliation bill that pushes for oil fossil fuel development and claws back $267 million from the National Park Service narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, drawing harsh condemnation from conservation and environmental groups.

The bill now awaiting President Donald Trump's signature was described by opponents as opening lands near national parks to oil and gas drilling, further straining national park staffs to keep visitor centers open and protect cultural and historical resources, and harmful to wildlife and clean air and water.

The House passed the legislation just hours after the National Parks Conservation Association issued a release, based on Interior Department data, stating that the Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its workforce since Trump returned to office. That number could increase, both under the administration's intended reduction-in-force, and with the loss of the $267 million that had been included for the Park Service in the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act.

"Despite the thousands of Americans calling, writing letters and rallying in their communities for their national parks and public lands, the House demonstrated a carelessness for the places that shape the foundation of America’s identity, including our battlefields, scenic rivers and one-of-a-kind monuments," said Daniel Hart, director of Clean Energy and Climate Policy for the National Parks Conservation Association. "The consequences of this short-sighted legislation will be felt for generations. Visitors from around the world could face shuttered visitor centers, canceled ranger programs, longer lines and diminished park experiences — all the result of unnecessary slashes to National Park Service funding and a deepening staffing crisis."

The legislation, which nonpartisan economists and analysts said would add more than $3 trillion to the national deficit over the next ten years while cutting off health insurance for more than 11 million Americans, was predicted to bring dire consequences to natural resources across the country, mostly in the West where the bulk of federal lands are located.

"Congress is sacrificing American lands, waters and wildlife in a short-sighted cash grab to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” said Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife. “Degrading habitats threatens hundreds of iconic native species, from the Alaskan polar bear to the New Mexican pronghorn. With this bill, Congress is putting critical wildlife habitats at risk and compromising the opportunity of Americans to enjoy and benefit from our shared natural heritage."

In Utah at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance officials were glad the final measure did not include the public lands auctions proposed by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, but said there was nothing else to cheer in the legislation.

“If Republicans cared about clean air and water, wildlife, or a livable planet for current and future generations, this bill would be dead in the water. But their priorities are clear. While we’re glad to see schemes to sell off public lands stripped from the budget bill, we are clear-eyed about the impacts of the rest of the bill: gutting tax credits for clean energy, attacking the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and creating new handouts to extractive industries – all of which will devastate wild public lands for decades to come,”  said Travis Hammill, SUWA DC director. “The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, our members, and our partners will continue to fight for the redrock wilderness and public lands.”

NPCA also promised to continue the fight to protect the National Park System.

"Our parks are facing one of their darkest times, and we won’t give up on them and their dedicated staff," said Hart. "Lawmakers must do better before we become the generation that stands by as our national parks and the American legacy collapse.”