May 8, 2025
The Honorable Doug Burgum, Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC, 20240
Dear Secretary Burgum:
As former senior leaders of the National Park Service (NPS), we are writing to express our concerns about Secretarial Order 3426, which states that, “that all park units remain open and accessible to the American public” and the subsequent implementation memorandum from the Acting NPS Director from April 7, 2025, which states:
“Park managers should prioritize activities that deliver the greatest benefit to the greatest number of visitors.When making operational decisions, managers should evaluate ongoing activities to ensure they are focusing on core visitor services, statutory mandates, and Executive and Secretarial Orders. Work that does not directly contribute to these priorities should be adjusted, scaled back, or deferred as appropriate, and staff that do not directly support these priorities may be redirected to higher priority needs.”
These directions suggest, if not outright direct, park managers to ignore their park resource protection responsibilities in favor of providing for visitor services. We believe that these directions are contradictory with the law and the intent of Congress, and we fear that these messages will put NPS superintendents in a difficult situation when confronted with decisions necessary to protect the resources of the units of the National Park System.
The Organic Act of the National Park Service of August 25, 1916, states that the National Park Service shall:
“Promote and regulate the use of … national parks, monuments, and reservations herein specified… by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects, and wild life therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Congress supplemented and clarified these provisions through enactment of the General Authorities Act in 1970, and again through enactment of a 1978 amendment to that act (the “Redwood amendment”), which states:
“The authorization of activities shall be construed and the protection, management, and administration of these areas shall be conducted in light of the high public value and integrity of the National Park System and shall not be exercised in derogation of the values and purposes for which these various areas have been established, except as may have been or shall be directly and specifically provided by Congress.”
Moreover, the Senate committee report stated that under the Redwood amendment:
“The Secretary has an absolute duty, which is not to be compromised, to fulfill the mandate of the 1916 Act to take whatever actions and seek whatever relief as will safeguard the units of the national park system.”
We understand your stated emphasis on visitor services, given that the National Park Service experienced the busiest year in history, having reported a record 331.9 million recreation visits in calendar year 2024 – an increase of 6.36 million recreation visits from 2023. We also know that Americans consistently vote the National Park Service as America’s favorite government agency.
These are clear indications of how much Americans love their national parks. They demonstrate how important it is for your office to address understaffing and additional reductions in funding that will further decrease the ability of park managers to effectively manage national parks for the benefit of the American public and in accordance with the law.
We support the need for management efficiency and the elimination of wasteful activities. However, we believe that the National Park Service has been engaged in management efficiency for decades. Thousands of volunteers already support the work of the parks. Millions of dollars have been donated by park neighbors and organizations in support of the parks. Thousands of National Park Service positions have been eliminated as budgets have not kept pace with inflation. All of this occurred before 2025. National Park Service employees, who should be on hand to help serve and protect millions of visitors, are under attack.
We are concerned that not just parks and visitors, but local economies that rely on visitor spending, will suffer. Data shows that every dollar appropriated to the National Park Service (less than half of one percent of the total federal budget) generates at least fifteen dollars to the national economy. The crippling of our parks and public lands, and the threat to the future of the National Park System, will have an enormous financial impact on the communities that rely on parks and other public lands that support their economies.
We ask that you join the millions of Americans who support the National Park Service and the parks and public lands under your jurisdiction to ensure that these special places are protected and conserved for future generations.
The undersigned,
Jonathan B. Jarvis
18th Director of the National Park Service, retired
Fran P. Mainella
16th Director of the National Park Service, retired
Robert Stanton
15th Director of the National Park Service, retired
James M. Ridenour
13th Director of the National Park Service, retired
Ronald H. Walker
8th Director of the National Park Service, retired
| Shawn Benge Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service Maureen Finnerty Retired, Associate Director, National Park Service Deny Galvin Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service Gary Machlis Retired, Science Advisor to the Director, National Park Service Steve Martin Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service Peggy O’Dell Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service John Reynolds Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service | Mike Reynolds Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service Jerry Rogers Retired, Associate Director, National Park Service Mike Soukup Retired, Associate Director, National Park Service Kate Stevenson Retired, Associate Director, National Park Service David Vela Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service Dan Wenk Retired, Deputy Director, National Park Service |