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As the Trump administration and Congress are pushing through drastic cuts to national public land management agencies, volunteers and local businesses across the West have been filling in the gaps. But agency staff and volunteers alike agree that it's not a sustainable long-term solution. With limited experience and expertise, and without the authority to do things like issue permits or enforce laws, there's only so much volunteers can do.
"Volunteers are valuable, but they’re no substitute for agency personnel," Josh Hicks, director of conservation campaigns for The Wilderness Society, told High Country News. Even with volunteer support, projects still need agency staff to organize and direct volunteer work. "They don’t have the staff in many areas to do the monitoring to get volunteers plugged in," Hicks said. "It’s an absolute mess out there."
Keep Parks Public campaign launches this Wednesday in Denver
The Trump administration is cutting funding for our most cherished places, removing vital public lands workers, and trying to sell off Americans’ public lands to pay for tax cuts for billionaires—all at the expense of public access. We're launching the Keep Parks Public campaign with a road trip across the West to highlight attacks on our public lands and fight back. We’ll be hosting on-the-ground events and inviting local leaders, public lands advocates, former federal employees, and others to share their perspective and examples of how communities are being impacted and how members of the public can support efforts to protect public lands. Join us for the kick-off event this Wednesday, August 13th in Denver, or check the tour schedule for an event near you. You can also follow the campaign on Instagram.
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It’s where I healed when I came back from deploying overseas. It’s wide-open and you can be all alone. On public lands every man is a king, and it is the only place in the world you can do that. It’s because it belongs to you, and it belongs to all of us.”
