Public lands employees were hit hard by mass firings in 2025. As part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) job cuts, the National Park Service (NPS) lost around 25% of its employees. Some Western states like Nevada and New Mexico lost up to 20% of their public land employees.
Now, understaffed parks like Yosemite and Arches face massive crowds and near-unprecedented levels of tourists, and scaled-back land management agencies are preparing for a potentially devastating fire season. In response, two congressmen introduced a bill that would block layoffs of public lands employees until 2030.
The Bill
The Public Lands Workforce Stability Act (H.R. 8523) comes from Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.).
This bill would enact a moratorium on all layoffs of public lands employees at the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) until 2030. These two departments house some of the most important public lands agencies, including the NPS, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Employees can only be fired “for cause on charges of misconduct, delinquency, or performance.”
The Rationale
In a press release, the congressmen expressed concern that staff shortages mean that these agencies are less prepared to tackle important tasks, including wildfire response, park maintenance, and wildlife and nature conservation.
Many experts expect the 2026 wildfire season to be particularly dangerous, given the low snowpack in the Western U.S. Last year, national parks experienced several especially destructive wildfires, including the Dragon Bravo fire, the largest fire ever recorded at Grand Canyon National Park.
“The Forest Service and National Park Service have both lost nearly a quarter of their staff since Donald Trump took office. At a time when our public lands and nearby communities are struggling with a water, climate, and wildfire crises, we cannot afford to lose any more expertise,” Huffman said.
Rep. Neguse cited the impact of the 2025 cuts to his home state of Colorado, which lost 1,700 public lands jobs. Outdoor recreation and tourism contribute $37.5 billion to the gross domestic product of the state.
“Extreme weather conditions, drought, and unprecedented fire risk, coupled with staffing shortages across the Interior Department and Forest Service, have placed our public lands and the civil servants that protect them in a dangerous position — the consequences of which are real and immediate,” Neguse said.
“The Public Lands Workforce Stability Act halts these attacks on our hard-working public servants and safeguards this workforce’s ability to manage critical programs that safeguard natural resources, protect communities, fight wildfires, and more. It is imperative that we have a fully staffed workforce to care for our most treasured public lands.”
The bill has the endorsement of many public lands nonprofits, including Conservation Lands Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Trust for Public Land, and the Association of National Park Rangers.
“Our parks are in crisis. They are understaffed and under-resourced … Those who remain are being asked to do more with less. It is a dangerous and unsustainable situation. This legislation will help stop the bleeding and provide much-needed relief to NPS staff,” Emily Thompson, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said in a statement.
The bill was introduced into the House on April 27. It is currently sitting with the Committee on Natural Resources for consideration. Huffman is a ranking member of this committee.
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