This post was updated April 6 at 2:33 p.m.

As purple mountain majesties become overrun with litter and biodiversity disappears from sea to shining sea, President Donald Trump’s attack on the National Park Service in alignment with his vision of “efficiency” only diminishes America’s beauty.

Over a thousand national park workers were wrongfully terminated in February amid a broader plan to cut federal bureaucracy and spending. The mass firings raise concerns about our country’s ability to maintain the parks amid increased visitation and prompt questions about the government’s value of federal employees.

In addition to the layoffs of workers that led to the understaffing of hundreds of parks, the NPS suffered a freeze on spending, jeopardizing a previously signed five-year-old law. The decision targeted seasonal workers, who play a fundamental role in maintaining protected areas and contributing to economic growth in heavily visited parks.

“This country has gotten bloated and fat and disgusting,” Trump said in his first Cabinet meeting about cuts to the federal workforce.

The Trump administration has demonstrated that protecting the parks and federal workers is not a priority. This move contradicts the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, which was signed by Trump in 2020 with bipartisan support. That law designated $6.5 billion over a span of five years to maintain and improve national parks.

Trump’s establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency has led to layoffs of over 216,000 federal employees across multiple agencies in the past month.

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and the senior advisor spearheading DOGE’s operations, made it clear from the beginning that he prioritizes the revenue generated by the layoffs over the numerous diversity, equity and inclusion contracts impacted by this change.

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said in an Oval Office press conference Feb. 11.

The attack on the NPS was met with dismay from Democrats and Republicans alike and joins the quickly growing list of Trump’s policy decisions that do not align with his campaign promises. The pushback against the mass layoffs led the administration to retreat on its original decision, restoring 7,700 positions for seasonal workers in 2025.

While many see this reversion as a step in the right direction, DOGE’s rash decision to target the parks reveals the true priorities of Trump and Musk as the American government turns away from democracy. This controversial move further illustrates that the national parks, seen as America’s treasures, are not as safe as many citizens may think.

On the contrary, Trump’s proposal to create a sovereign wealth fund jeopardizes several national monuments, which could be sold to American companies and stripped of natural resources.

The decision to scale back or eliminate protections for these lands has been finalized. The only remaining question is which habitats the administration will choose to exploit.

Beyond promoting tourism and economic activity, the national parks preserve biodiversity, supporting wildlife and rare plant species. The administration’s efforts to allow fossil fuel production on public lands and revise national monument designations for parks threaten the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Tongass National Forest and the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, among others.

The public lands currently under threat include over 6.7 million acres of wildlife habitat, supporting 32 endangered species and 27 threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act.

California possesses nine national parks – the most of any state – each of which supports its own diverse ecosystem. The NPS reported that over 325 million people visited national parks and historical sites in 2023.

These millions of visitors support hundreds of thousands of jobs and contribute an estimated $26.4 billion to communities near the parks, according to the NPS. Yet, despite the promise to hire more seasonal workers, the already understaffed NPS will continue to suffer from these cuts in staffing right as its busy season begins.

Musk’s operation of DOGE, particularly through layoffs of national park workers, speaks clearly to how this administration values federal workers. DOGE’s move demanding government workers report what they accomplished that week via email, or otherwise lose their job, alarmingly reveals Musk and Trump’s devaluation of federal employees.

The necessity of the national parks should not be in dispute. To deem the national parks a frivolous expense of the United States government is to overlook the crucial role the parks play in sustaining biodiversity and supporting cultural heritage.

Trump and Musk’s attack on the national parks, paired with DOGE’s continuous immoral operations, epitomizes America’s march away from democracy and descent into an oligarchy.