On January 11, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt designated the Grand Canyon as a national monument, declaring: “You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children and all who come after you.”
More than a century later, Roosevelt’s vision is at risk. Nearly a dozen Grand Canyon National Park employees have been laid off because of Trump’s federal spending cuts, causing longer wait times and jeopardizing the park’s delicate water supply pipeline. Across the country, thousands of national park and national forest employees have been fired, throwing these public lands into disarray and endangering their future.
Trump’s funding cuts to the national parks and forests are more than just poor policy — they are an existential threat to the U.S.’s national identity.
Even from a purely economic policy standpoint, slashing the budgets and protections of national parks and forests makes little sense. The stated goals of such cuts are to reduce government spending and open more land to profitable industries like oil and gas. But cutting park funding achieves neither.
First, the fiscal impact is negligible. The National Park Service’s 2025 budget request would account for just 0.067% of the federal budget — nearly 200 times less than military spending in 2023. Eliminating or reducing that funding won’t meaningfully affect the deficit.
Second, the economic value of the parks may exceed what could be gained through resource extraction. In 2023 alone, national parks generated $55.6 billion for the U.S. economy, with particularly strong effects in Republican states like Utah and Wyoming. They also boost the surrounding communities. Visitors spent $26.4 billion in nearby “gateway” towns, supporting local businesses, raising incomes and lowering unemployment.
Even President Trump once acknowledged this value: In 2020, he signed the Great American Outdoors Act to address long-standing funding shortfalls in the parks. Yet now, he disregards this understanding in favor of cuts that threaten both the parks and the economic vitality of their surrounding areas.
Beyond having a positive economic impact, the parks represent what makes America great — they are a living symbol of democracy. For a modest fee, any American can see some of the most sublime natural wonders in the world. It’s hard to put a price on seeing the Grand Canyon stretch endlessly across Arizona for the first time or standing atop Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, looking out over the vast desert landscape. Unlike many other attractions, there are no fast passes for the wealthy, no advertisements plastering mountainsides, just raw, unfiltered beauty.
The parks also hold deep cultural and historical significance. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, for example, is one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding ancient Native American life. Independence National Historical Park in Pennsylvania preserves the symbols of America’s founding, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
The parks aren’t just places to learn about the past — they’re spaces to be fully present. Free from the curse of good reception, 24-hour news and fluorescent lighting, they allow us to appreciate the basic joys of life: good conversation, the smell of fresh mountain air, a clear view of the stars. Journalist Mark Woods, who spent a year travelling to and writing about the National Parks, said what made Yellowstone his favorite park at the time wasn’t a beautiful hike or dramatic view, but rather bonding with his daughter over a cool rock they found there.
I came to truly appreciate the significance of the National Parks during a recent road trip through Utah’s “Mighty Five” with two of my closest friends from high school. I had never seen such natural beauty before — whether it was standing beneath the North Window in Arches, hiking the Big Spring Canyon loop in Canyonlands or wading through the Narrows in Zion. In the parks, we saw the breadth of America — families, solo travellers, fellow college students and retirees alike.
At the same time, the early effects of the budget cuts were already noticeable. Fiery Furnace, a maze-like hike in Arches that we were excited to try, was closed due to employee shortages. Lines at Zion were unusually long, and it took us over an hour to find parking each day. Still, these inconveniences did not take away from the experience.
While there are encouraging signs that the parks may survive, we still must do all we can to ensure their security. Fortunately, supporting them is very easy and fun: just visit. Buy a park pass and a souvenir, and enjoy yourself. You can drive to Acadia in Maine, which is roughly five hours from Providence, or, more realistically, go to any nearby national forest or recreation area. You could even try to go on the annual Brown Geology Department trip to Utah.
It will take all of us to tell Trump to take a hike … in Utah, Arizona, Colorado or really anywhere in the U.S. where the value of these parks is apparent the moment you pass the entrance sign. As Theodore Roosevelt understood long ago, the National Parks are one of the things that actually makes America great.
Ben Aizenberg can be reached at benjamin_aizenberg@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
