Two of the offices are slated for lease termination in August.
In yet another blow to national parks this year, Trump's administration has announced plans to terminate National Park Service (NPS) leases and close 34 offices that currently serve as visitor centers, museums, and law enforcement offices. Two of those facilities are located in Texas and have a planned lease termination date set for Aug. 31, 2025, according to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an independent parks advocacy group.
One of the buildings serves as the main office of the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in the Texas Panhandle. The NPS office serves as the central quarters for resource protection, wildland fire, public safety, access and enjoyment, according to the NPCA. The other office slated for closure is the law enforcement facility at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which the NPCA said houses numerous NPS employees who manage the park, including first response and other public safety functions, maintenance IT, equipment storage, and artifacts.
The NPCA warned the 34 targeted field offices and facilities -- including those in Texas -- house vital staff, including scientists, archaeologists, superintendents and others who carry out basic operations and the mission of national parks. As part of the move, eight visitor centers will be shuttered without an alternative location in place, the organization said. Millions of artifacts stored in climate-controlled facilities are also at risk with no equivalent facilities to house them.
"It is reckless and short-sighted to shutter National Park Service offices without a careful examination of what they protect and the critical staff who work there," said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the NPCA, in a statement. "These closures will cripple the Park Service's ability to operate parks safely and will mean millions of irreplaceable artificats will be left vulnerable or worse, lost. Quite simply and astonishingly, this is dismantling the National Park Service as we know it, ranger by ranger and brick by brick."
The NPCA is calling for the administration to "immediately stop these reckless lease cancellations before they inflict even more damage on America's national parks." The planned lease terminations follow mass layoffs during what many federal employees are now calling the "Valentine's Day Massacre." About 1,000 probationary employees with the NPS were fired as part of the Trump administration's sweeping cost-cutting measures.
In Texas, about 10 employees were fired, including at Big Bend National Park, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park, and Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park. Bill Wade, executive director of the nonprofit Association of National Park Rangers, told Chron there could be more as the NPS has not disclosed what parks and positions were affected. Wade said the positions included park rangers, fee collectors, administrators, cultural staff, and custodians.
In a statement to Chron regarding the widespread layoffs, the NPS said: "The National Park Service 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."
In addition to the layoffs, the NPS was also hit by a now-lifted hiring freeze. At least 700 year-round NPS employees have also taken buyouts, according to an internal memo. Pierno said the NPS has lost 9 percent of its already stretched-thin staff in a matter of weeks. "These moves by the administration are pushing our parks past the point of no return," Pierno said. "For over a century, Americans have loved and fought to protect our national parks. This administration's actions are a betrayal of that legacy. The American people expect leaders to protect our parks, not dismantle them."