Park rangers oversee more than 85 million acres of land – an area about half the size of Texas.
Last year, however, there were less than 1,200 rangers nationwide, which is nearly 50% fewer than there were back in 2010. Since then, the number of seasonal officers has dropped from more than 800 to less than 50. That’s according to a report from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which extracted National Park Service (NPS) data.
Meanwhile, over the last decade, park visitation has grown by over 10%, jumping to 325 million recreation visits a year ago, according to the park service’s annual visitation statistics.
Budget cuts are the main reason for the declining ranger force. But there are other contributing factors, including burnout, recruitment challenges, and a low supply of affordable housing in areas around national parks.
A lack of park rangers puts more visitors in harm’s way, said Jeff Ruch, PEER’s Pacific director.
“People are going deeper into places where they shouldn't be and getting into trouble,” said Ruch, noting that park search-and-rescue calls have more than tripled between 2015 and 2021. “And the ability to respond to those demands has greatly lessened.”
At the same time, the number of criminal acts in national parks are spiking.
“The amount of serious crime that was reported in national parks to the Department of Justice had almost gone up by four times over the last decade,” Ruch said. “Yet, the number of law enforcement personnel has shrunk.”
And it could shrink even more next year. A spending bill passed last month by the House would cut national park funding by more than 6%.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
