What the National Park Service Staff Cuts Mean for Your Summer Trip to Yosemite

If you visited Yosemite over spring break this year, you may have sat in line for two hours just to get through the entrance gate. Staffing advocates say it could get worse this summer.

The National Park Service has lost an estimated 25% of its permanent workforce since the start of the second Trump administration, through layoffs of probationary workers, early retirement offers and hiring freezes. Now, the administration’s proposed 2027 budget would cut park operations by another $736 million and eliminate thousands more positions, including road crews, support staff and more than half of all resource stewardship funding.

The cuts come at a time when 323 million people visit national parks annually and 26 parks set attendance records last year alone. At Yosemite, the situation is compounded by the recent elimination of the park’s timed-entry reservation system, which had been in place to manage crowds during peak months.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told senators the agency plans to hire 5,500 seasonal workers for the summer and is requesting nine-month terms instead of six to stretch coverage. But critics say conflating seasonal hires with permanent staff losses masks the real impact.

The National Parks Conservation Association called the proposed cuts catastrophic, arguing that parks already lack the people needed for emergency response, trail maintenance and custodial work. Fewer rangers also means fewer people available to help lost, injured or dehydrated hikers during the hottest months.

Congress will have the final say on the proposed budget.