Federal Funding Cuts Could Impact SD’s Natural Areas
A reader recently reached out to tell me that a few weekends ago, she went to Joshua Tree National Park for a weekend of hiking and camping. This was after the news that the federal government was cutting funding to national parks, and that Joshua Tree would lay off six employees, leaving its job vacancy at about 30 percent. She said there was a very long line of cars to check into the park, and they had to wait about 40 minutes to get in.
I wasn’t able to reach anyone at Joshua Tree to see if this long wait time is unusual or whether there’s a link to the reduced staffing. However, according to a spokesperson for the National Park Service, “The [NPS] is hiring seasonal workers to continue enhancing the visitor experience as we embrace new opportunities for optimization and innovation in workforce management. We are focused on ensuring that every visitor has the chance to explore and connect with the incredible, iconic spaces of our national parks.”
Unfortunately, this still left me with questions, so I checked in with Mark Eller with the nonprofit Leave No Trace who says it’s clear that funding cuts are impacting hiking and camping across the state and around the San Diego region.
“A lot of frontline workers that normally would be doing trail maintenance work to keep trails in good shape for the public may not be available, or might be getting pulled to other duties,” says, Eller. “We’ve definitely heard from a lot of our land manager partners that they’re concerned. Of course, there’s no clarity yet because the cuts are still subject to some lawsuits, and we’re not really trying to prognosticate who’s going to get cut or if it’s too early to say.”
Another example he’s heard repeatedly is trash piling up and overflowing in park trash cans. When staffing is reduced, everyday activities like getting litter into a receptacle can be more complicated. This can lead to stuffed trash cans and, when visitors are in the park, they’ll need to start carrying their own trash out themselves. Eller suggests bringing plastic or garbage bags with you the next time you visit.
“This has a big impact on the health of wildlife. If there’s trash being left out that normally would be emptied by a land manager, be prepared to deal with it yourself,” he says. “You don’t want to add to it because that’s going to draw in new wildlife trying to find that food, and that’s not healthy for them.”
Additionally, there will be no expansion to new lands and the cuts could also have a ripple effect to local and state parks. “Parks and natural areas around the country get different types of assistance from federal funds, or states can get into financial trouble in times like this, and they may have to divert resources from one thing for another,” he says.
Cabrillo National Park’s Tidepools
In San Diego, it’s unclear whether there has been an impact on places like Cabrillo National Monument—a spokeswoman for the foundation says they can’t comment and referred questions to the federal national parks system.
Jennifer Morrissey with the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the park, says during times like these, local governments can lean more on nonprofits.
“The MTRP Foundation has provided more than $15 million in support to the park since our founding in 1988,” Morrissey says. “Some of this funding has been for capital projects and, more recently, for land acquisition, but we are a consistent source of funding to ensure Mission Trails can continue to be maintained and improved. With the city’s current budget shortfall, we will be able to help keep park projects going and fences mended.”
Eller says lean times are also good opportunities for people to think about how they personally impact trails and parks. He encourages locals to continue getting outdoors and spending time in natural areas but to be mindful of how they are protecting the places they love most.
One way to do that, he says, is to follow the seven principles of Leave No Trace including planning ahead, camping on durable surfaces, and disposing of waste properly. He adds that volunteering with your local park is a great option, too, and make sure that you’re always staying on designated paths.
“People [should] stay on the trail or walk in the middle of the trail, as opposed to taking switchbacks or taking shortcuts, [because] those behaviors just add to trail erosion. A lot of people come to parks [with an] attitude of, ‘Well, somebody else will fix it,’” he says. “But that’s increasingly not true. And every time you do a little bit better in terms of your leading the safe behaviors, that helps protect the natural world from the impacts of people out enjoying it.”
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