On Feb. 14, 1,000 National Park Service employees were terminated as a result of a $210 million reduction in funding from the national park budget. These funding cuts extended to the Indiana Dunes National Park, the only national park in Indiana.

Betsy Maher, executive director of the Save the Dunes conservation nonprofit, said the park lost four positions, affecting park resource management, fire management and maintenance. 

According to AP News, the terminated positions were later reinstated, with plans to hire more employees in the future. However, the status of Indiana’s national park remains in doubt.

Maher said, “Calls for widespread reduction in force (RIFs) across most federal agencies mean that more positions may still be impacted. We are concerned about the chilling effect staffing cuts and disruptions will have as we quickly approach peak visitation season. The Indiana Dunes hires approximately 80 seasonal positions annually so hiring for these positions has already been underway and heavily disrupted.”

Senior Naya Aburajab said she found the funding reductions surprising.

“I think it’s upsetting that we are cutting funds to such a beautiful part of Indiana,” Aburajab said. “I remember going there all the time when I was a kid.”

AP Government teacher Joshua Miller said national parks rarely become topics of political conversation. He said national parks often make up less than 0.1% of the federal budget.

“There haven’t been any other instances where there have been pushes to fund or defund national parks,” Miller said. “It’s usually a non-issue. I don’t think it’s been a partisan issue because both Republicans and Democrats get to visit them. The people that I know that have been in the national parks have an overwhelmingly positive attitude about visiting.”

In addition, Miller said most national park funding comes from the annual federal budget, with the rest being made up by visitor fees and donations. 

“A significant portion of a national park’s funding comes from annual congressional appropriations,” Miller said. “A much smaller percentage is from admission fees and other voluntary donations. The cuts form part of the new Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to bring perceived waste, fraud and abuse from government agencies to light.”

According to Maher, the timing of the budget cuts has hit the park hard. Maher said she thinks park funding should be maintained, if not increased to address demand.

“Budgets have not kept pace with the demands of growing visitation for the Indiana Dunes which reached close to three million visitors last year,” Maher said. “The Indiana Dunes National Park was already understaffed going into 2025, so these cuts will be sure to add strain to an already overworked park staff. The park did not receive any increase in budget when it became a national park in 2019, despite the swell in visitors that followed the name change.”

In addition, Maher said Indiana Dunes employs trained experts who are difficult to replace on short notice. 

“Much of the habitat restoration work we partner with the National Park to carry out requires licensed and professional restoration experts including herbicide application, controlled burns, and the operation of heavy machinery,” Maher said. “While volunteers play a critical role in many areas, there are many paid positions that are critical for maintaining basic park operations. With more cuts looming, the park will struggle to perform basic functions such as staffing visitor centers, perform critical habitat restoration work, maintain trails, clean bathrooms and more.”

Despite the recent volatile changes to national park funding, Aburajab said she is optimistic for a more environmentally conscious future.

“I believe parks play an important role in keeping habitats conserved as well as remain a buffer against mass urbanization,” Aburajab said. “I think as students as long as we remain socially aware and environmentally friendly, we can do a better job than previous generations at keeping our spaces clean and safe.”