Arkansas Parks Under Assault: Trump’s Shutdown and Sell-Offs Threaten Treasured National Parks and Public Lands, $300 Million for Gateway Communities

Rep. Westerman’s Failed Oversight of Interior Department Has Helped Turbocharge Trump and Burgum’s Fail-By-Design Plan

HELENA, MT –  With no end in sight to Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans’ government shutdown, the danger for Arkansas’ treasured national parks, and the gateway communities that depend on tourism dollars to survive, is abundantly clear and already occurring. Republican House Natural Resources Chair Representative Bruce Westerman (AR-4) admitted as much, saying “at some point, without funding, the public lands will not be accessible to the public. The longer this unnecessary shutdown lasts, the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see without regular staffing: Litter will pile up, and park ecosystems will be affected.” 

The Trump administration is ignoring those communities across the country, and has already begun to sell off America’s public lands to the highest bidder as part of a nationwide, systematic fail-by-design scheme by Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “When Americans save up to visit a national park or a national forest, experience should exceed their expectations. Families visiting our parks are now being met with disappointment as visitor services and experiences are reduced,” said Rep. Westerman.

Despite his ostensible concern for America’s national parks, Rep. Westerman has conducted no legitimate oversight of the Interior Department under Secretary Burgum, even as questions abound about whether or not members of the Department are still missing required ethics paperwork.

“Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum are gut punching America’s cherished national parks and the dedicated employees that care for them. Between the shutdown and draconian DOGE cuts, with even more crippling staffing reductions and funding cuts on the horizon, our nation’s parks face a manufactured fail-by-design disaster under Interior Secretary Burgum,” said Jayson O’Neill, Save Our Parks spokesperson. “If Republican Rep. Westerman really cared about our national parks and Arkansans’ ability to access public lands, he would hold Burgum and Trump’s Interior Department accountable for pushing them to their breaking point. Every day that Trump and Doug Burgum don’t reverse course it puts every visitor, gateway community, and park, especially popular destinations like Hot Springs National Park, in grave danger. As chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, it’s past time for Rep. Westerman to do his job and stand up for Arkansans’ outdoor heritage and birthright before it’s too late.”

Arkansas is home to popular tourist destinations like Hot Springs National Park and Buffalo National River, and visitors to those sites contributed more than $300 million in 2024. Now, not only are those communities missing out on potential revenue from visitors, entrance fees that support Arkansas park and historic sites operation and maintenance are going uncollected because of the shutdown.

Analysis of court documents detailing Burgum’s plans show at least 31% of the Southeast and 20% of the regional support park staff will be eliminated, which is on top of the nearly 25% of park staffing cuts already carried out through Trump’s DOGE. Arkansas is home to over 700 Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Forest Service employees.

Save Our Parks’ “Parks Under Assault Map” uses government data from the National Park Service to expose the cross-country devastation: cuts to education, visitor services, and safety response mean that places like Buffalo National River in Arkansas are no longer able to operate at full capacity. Even before the government shutdown began, at least 10 parks across the country were operating with compromised emergency response systems, putting park employees, visitors, wildlife, and gateway communities in immediate danger.

Source: National Park Service, Internal Report, July 2025.

Arkansas National Park Impacts Prior to Trump’s Shutdown:

• Buffalo National River - Construction of access points at Tyler Bend has ceased as a result of a funding freeze, and though the funding has been reinstated, work has not yet resumed.

• Buffalo’s visitor center and contact station have reduced operating hours as a result of staffing shortages. 

• Staffing shortages have resulted in near-total cancellation of ranger-led tours and school programs.

While conflicted billionaire Interior Secretary Burgum tells Americans to just ignore his failures, Save Our Parks is asking the public to report issues at our parks and on our public lands at our tip line. 

Additional background:

It’s no secret the Trump administration wanted this shutdown to nefariously fire more critical civil servants at a time when our parks are already run by skeleton crews. Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” chainsawed about 7,500 jobs at Interior, making up more than ten percent of its workforce and nearly 24% of the park services. 

If Trump and Burgum get their wish, more crippling staffing reductions will be coming soon. Trump’s budget calls for an additional 30% funding cuts, and Burgum’s Interior Department reduction in force (RIF) plan could mean additional workforce reductions of up to 50% at some divisions and nearly 30% additional reductions at the National Park Service. 

During Trump’s last government shutdown, his administration forced most parks to stay open by illegally redirecting funds, while furloughing National Park Service employees. The results? Overflowing toilets, trash spilling out of unserviced containers, vandalism, illegal off-roading and joyriding, and massive damage to our treasured resources that may never be repaired. In a letter, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) urged Burgum to classify Interior Department employees essential during this shutdown for these very reasons: to protect our public lands and to keep Americans safe.

As Trump and Burgum repeat the same mistakes from Trump’s last GOP shutdown, they haven’t let the pain they’re inflicting on the country distract them from their campaign of mass censorship across America’s parks. Park visitors this summer were subjected to requests asking that they flag any “negative content” deemed “inappropriately disparaging to Americans past or living.” Recent investigations reveal the administration has systematically ordered the removal of signs, exhibits, and educational materials addressing slavery, Indigenous persecution, civil rights struggles, climate change, and other aspects of American history they don’t like.

###