More Than 35 Former National Park Superintendents Urge Secretary Burgum To Close National Parks If There Is A Government Shutdown
Superintendents state: “Leaving parks open to the public with minimal—or no—park staffing is reckless and puts both visitors and park resources at risk.”
In a letter sent to Secretary Burgum today, 38 former National Park Superintendents urged the Secretary to close national parks if there is a government shutdown.
In the letter, which was organized by the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and Association of National Park Rangers, the Superintendents state, in part:
Past shutdowns in which gates remained open with limited or no staff have hurt our parks: Iconic symbols cut down and vandalized, trash piled up, habitats destroyed, and visitor safety jeopardized. If you don’t act now, history is not just doomed to repeat itself—the damage could in fact be much worse.
This summer, our parks were pushed to the brink by budget cuts and staff reductions. A recent New York Times report found that at least 90 parks are already facing serious strain in an effort to comply with Secretarial Order 3426 that parks remain open and accessible to the public, despite huge reductions in the workforce.
If national parks are to be open to visitors when National Park staff are furloughed, these nascent issues from the summer season are sure to erupt. Leaving parks open to the public with minimal—or no—park staffing is reckless and puts both visitors and park resources at risk.
You can see the full letter here.
Emily Thompson, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect America National Parks said:
“Leaving national parks open without National Park staff to help protect visitors and resources is not only irresponsible—it’s dangerous. We don’t leave museums open without curators, or airports without air traffic controllers and we should not leave our National Parks open without NPS employees. The most sensible outcome here is to not only keep the government open but to fully fund and staff our parks. But, parks can’t run themselves and if the government shuts down, so should the national parks. Safety must come first.”
Bill Wade, Executive Director, Association of National Park Rangers said:
“Not only would this be dangerous to visitors, who could get in trouble and have to wait a long time for assistance, but the potential damage to park resources drastically increases. Without staff to monitor what is happening in parks, vandalism, poaching, ‘pothunting’ in archeological sites, and looting in battlefield sites are likely to increase. We believe this nation’s citizens do not want these things to happen to their beloved National Parks. Secretary Burgum should listen to them.”
For Immediate Release: Friday, September 26, 2025
Contact: Doug Gordon | do**@***************es.com
###