UPDATED | Trump Creates “Make America Beautiful Again” Commission Amid Steps To Shrink Park Workforce, Budget

Editor's note: This corrects in 11th graph the funding source for backlogged maintenance on public lands.

President Donald Trump is creating a commission “to conserve America’s lands and waters, cut red tape, and drive conservation and economic growth” in tandem with his order to raise park-entry fees on foreigners and reverse efforts to increase diversity in parks. 

The “Make America Beautiful Again Commission,” to be chaired by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, will “expand access to recreation for outdoorsmen, hunters, anglers, hikers, bikers, climbers, skiers, runners and all Americans seeking to spend time in nature,” the White House said in a fact sheet accompanying the executive order Trump signed Thursday, along with a separate executive order dealing with park fees.

“It is the policy of my administration to prioritize responsible conservation, restore our lands and waters, and protect our nation’s outdoor heritage for the enjoyment of the American people,” Trump’s MABA order said — a commitment that already is drawing a wary eye from some environmental advocates. It comes as Trump has told his administration to open more public lands to oil drilling, mining, and logging; has shrunk the National Park Service workforce and frozen funds; and seeks to slash more than $1 billion from the coffers that fund the parks. That level of cut would force closure of more than 300 park units, advocates estimate.

Tump’s order states that, “Years of mismanagement, regulatory overreach, and neglect of routine maintenance require action.  Land-use restrictions have stripped hunters, fishers, hikers, and outdoorsmen of access to public lands that belong to them.” He called those lapses “bureaucratic restrictions” that have “undermined outdoor traditions and threatened conservation funding. “

The order said the Park Service and Forest Service “face more than $23 billion and $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance, respectively, leaving roads, trails, and historic landmarks in disrepair. Despite these challenges, our nation has proven that conservation and economic growth go hand in hand.”

The MABA drew a muted response from Tom Kiernan, a former president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association who now leads American Rivers.

“The details of how this new policy is enacted will matter, and we want to see meaningful results," Kiernan said Thursday, "but any day we are talking about ensuring clean water and putting conservation back on the agenda is a good day. The stakes for our health, safety, and water security are high and it’s essential that we come together to safeguard our outdoor heritage and the natural resources that sustain us all.” 

More skeptical was the staff at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Given the all-out assault on clean water, public lands and wildlife protection from the Trump administration, it’s hard not to be skeptical of anything it announces,” Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president for nature at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Washington Post.

Where Will The Money Come From?

Trump’s executive order pertaining to raising entrance fees for foreign visitors also directed Burgum to leverage funds from the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). Additonally, Secretary Burgum did last week say that Interior "will engage in a public-private partnership to invest $250 million in critical infrastructure, preservation and public access projects at iconic sites to restore America’s greatness. Every federal dollar invested in the Patriot Program will be matched by 50 percent in private funding or in-kind contributions leveraging philanthropic support to amplify impacts, increase efficiency, and maximize impact of taxpayer resources."

Those sums, however, won't go far in chipping away at the ~$23 billion maintenance backlog national parks have accrued. Additionally, Trump in his Fiscal 2026 budget request would cripple the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which helps protect parks, wildlife refuges and recreation areas at the federal, state and local levels, in order to tackle the maintenance backlog, alarming conservation advocates.

LWCF is fueled by proceeds from offshore oil and gas royalty payments and was permanently funded by the GAOA. Separately, GAOA also directs onshore and offshore royalties to fund the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) to tackle deferred maintenance, but that funding expires this year. The concept of diverting funds from conservation to pay for maintenance is controversial.

"The administration’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 proposes to gut LWCF by diverting nearly $387 million — roughly 43 percent of the fund — away from conservation, recreation and sportsmen’s access needs across the country, with a 90 percent cut to critical projects to protect our National Parks, Forests, Wildlife Refuges, and BLM lands," the Land and Water Conservation Fund coalition said last week. "The proposal would undercut the Great American Outdoors Act, President Trump’s conservation legacy that he signed into law in 2020. We hope to work with the president to reverse this proposal."

Back in May legislation was introduced in the Senate to continue the GAOA's work. Sponored by Angus King, an independent from Maine, and Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, the America the Beautiful Act would reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) for eight years and increase its funding to $2 billion a year.

The LRF, first authorized in the 2020 GAOA, needs renewal to continue its work addressing the public lands maintenance backlog. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) joined King and Daines in introducing the legislation. 

Contradictory Actions

Trump stated that land management agencies should ensure their policies “promote stewardship of natural resources while driving economic growth,” and efforts should expand hunting, recreation and fishing access on public lands, while encouraging “voluntary conservation efforts.”

He called for cutting “bureaucratic delays” in environmental management, a presumed reference to restrictions under conservation laws like the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act.

Further, he directed, agencies should “recover America’s fish and wildlife populations through proactive, voluntary, on-the-ground collaborative conservation efforts.”

The job of the new MABA commission will be to “advise and assist the President regarding how best to responsibly conserve America’s national treasures and natural resources,” and implement his executive order’s goals.

That includes policies to “expand clean drinking water and restore aquatic ecosystems to improve water quality and availability” and “to expand access to public lands, national parks, national forests, and wildlife refuges while promoting a wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities like hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, skiing, climbing, boating, off-roading, and wildlife viewing.”

The MABA Commission will “use gold-standard science,” according to the White House fact sheet, to “promote active forest management and responsible stewardship” of public lands, while reducing bureaucratic delays.”

But that effort could be hamstrung by Trump's efforts to reduce the size of government. The chronically short-staffed Park Service has lost large numbers of scientists and lands experts to the Trump administration’s push to reduce its workforce size while also retaining staff needed to keep the parks open for recreation.

NPCA staff estimates the Park Service has lost about a quarter of its staff since Trump took office, in many cases resulting in loss of decades of irreplaceable knowledge and expertise. That has left remaining staff overburdened and morale in decline.

NPCA based its numbers on internal Interior Department data it obtained. That data also show that only about 4,500 of the 8,000 seasonal staff pledged by the administration have been hired, the advocacy group said.

The new commission members in addition to Burgum will be: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, White House Office of Management and Budget and Council of Economic Advisors and Council on Environmental Quality, plus the White House chief of staff and presidential assistant for economic policy.