Opinion | The Hidden Costs of Handing Over Our National Parks

For more than three years, I had the privilege of serving as the 19th Director of the National Park Service. During that time, I traveled to every corner of the nation, meeting with governors, mayors, members of Congress, and community leaders, creating lasting partnerships that protected our most treasured landscapes.

Together, we worked to ensure that the National Park System remained a source of pride, connection, and opportunity for every American. Together, we wanted to ensure every American saw a reflection of themselves in their parks.

But the federal-state partnerships that have been the bedrock of the National Park Service’s work for more than 100 years are now under great threat. 

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum recently appeared at a Senate briefing to defend President Donald Trump’s proposal to offload national parks to the states. The idea may sound like a gesture of local empowerment, but let’s be clear: it’s a plan to shift costs, weaken protections, and dismantle a system that has long served the American people.

One of the largest challenges facing the National Park Service is its more than $23 billion in maintenance backlog. Tackling this challenge was a top priority during my time as Director. From rebuilding vital bridges at Yellowstone National Park that will preserve year-round public access, to replacing dilapidated maintenance facilities at Acadia National Park that will better assist the park’s campgrounds and wastewater systems. But while we made incredible progress to address the backlog in parks across the country, there is still a lot of work left. Instead of addressing that burden, the President and Secretary Burgum’s proposal simply dumps it on state governments, most of which don’t have the budget or capacity to take it on. 

A recent report from Climate Power outlines how much of this maintenance backlog would be absorbed by individual states: $646 million in North Carolina, including a share of the $557 million tied to the Blue Ridge Parkway; $589 million in Pennsylvania, including $430 million for smaller park units outside Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park; and $218 million in Ohio, including over $100 million for parks beyond Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The proposal would also fracture our coordinated wildfire response. The National Park Service plays a critical role in deploying trained personnel and resources during fire season, capabilities states alone cannot replicate at scale. The Dragon Bravo Fire at Grand Canyon National Park that has now been raging for more than a month underscores the dangers of dismantling this system. Under state control, parks would lose access to critical federal resources, including the $2.85 billion Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund and other funding for wildfire preparedness and fuels management, important tools for preventing and combating catastrophic fires.

As a Tribal citizen and a Navy veteran, I’ve always believed in honoring our commitments—to our lands, to our people, and to our neighbors. That’s why it’s deeply troubling that this proposal would strip away access to our national parks for more than 17 million veterans and 10 million seniors. Today, members of the U.S. military and their dependents, Gold Star Families, and veterans are eligible for free annual or lifetime passes to national parks. Similarly, Americans aged 62 and older can enjoy our public lands through programs like the Senior Lifetime Pass. These programs were created to honor those who have served our country and contributed to its strength, they’ve earned the right to enjoy the beauty of our shared public lands. Under state control, these programs would be fragmented, and the promises we made as a nation would disappear.

Our national parks are a reflection of who we are as a nation and what we value as a people. They remind us that some places are worth protecting, not just for their beauty or history, but for the connection they offer to one another and to the land itself. The strength of the National Park System has always come from our collective commitment to care for these places, together. Dismantling that commitment puts too much at risk. We owe it to the generations that came before us, and those still to come, to ensure our parks remain accessible, resilient, and protected for all.