From the Grand Canyon’s valleys to Yosemite’s granite peaks and Alaska’s ancient Tongass trees, President Donald Trump has promised to make America’s federal nature reserves “beautiful again.” National parks are part of more than 600 million acres (243 million hectares) of US public lands that include forests, deserts, waterways and wildlife refuges — “some of the most ecologically intact and biodiverse lands in the country,” says Jenny Rowland-Shea of the Center for American Progress.
Critics say those landscapes face steep budget cuts and environmental rollbacks that open them to resource extraction. In May 2025, the administration proposed cutting nearly $1 billion (€860 million) from the National Park Service budget — a reduction park advocates warn could force hundreds of sites to close or sharply curtail services. Two months later, Trump signed an executive order that invoked the parks’ inspirational value but criticized “land-use restrictions” that allegedly stripped hunters, fishers and hikers of access — a framing that critics fear signals a wider push to open federally managed lands to mining, drilling and logging.
National parks remain hugely popular
Celebrated as “America’s best idea,” the national park network set a record in 2024 with about 332 million visitors who spent roughly $29 billion in nearby communities. A November 2025 YouGov poll found 69% of Americans oppose the proposed cuts to the National Park Service. That opposition played out in the Senate in January when a bipartisan budget bill rejected the cuts, though park advocates warned that removal of explicit language keeping parks as public lands could leave them vulnerable to sell-offs.
“Protecting our national parks is a bipartisan issue,” said Theresa Pierno, then-president of the National Parks Conservation Association, which commissioned the poll. “Nobody asked for reckless cuts to park staffing or the gutting of our shared heritage.”
Millions of hectares opened to mining and logging
More than 40% of US public lands have long been subject to oil, gas, coal and mineral extraction, including a federal mineral estate that produces a notable share of domestic hydrocarbons. The Trump administration has pushed to “unleash” more American energy on public lands by rolling back what it calls “ideologically motivated” regulations, including environmental and climate laws. An executive order in January 2025 proposed ending the 2024 Public Lands Rule, established under Biden to balance extraction with conservation.
Officials say expanding extraction will reduce “foreign dependence” on critical minerals. In March 2025 the administration ordered a significant increase in domestic “mineral production” on federal lands, identifying large swaths for fast-tracked mining leases for minerals such as copper, uranium and gold. It has opened millions of acres of public land and water to oil drilling and coal mining and overturned rules that limited logging and road construction, arguing those changes allow “responsible” timber production and “fire prevention.”
“Trump’s actions are largely aimed at weakening protections,” Rowland-Shea told DW. “The value of public lands is determined by their potential resource extraction and market value.”
Preserved public lands vital for “disappearing wildlife”
This approach echoes actions from Trump’s first term, when millions of acres were removed from protections and made available for logging and mining — moves that were later reversed by the Biden administration for some areas. Stephen Nash, an environmental researcher at the University of Richmond, warns that while iconic national parks may remain protected from major extraction, the broader portfolio of national forests and wildlife preserves is at risk of severe degradation. Those lands serve as critical habitat for species that will need to migrate as temperatures rise.
Scientists point to the ecological benefits of restoration efforts — for example, reintroducing American bison to Yellowstone has helped restore ecosystem function. Parks have also served as places to educate the public about climate impacts. But in February the administration directed park staff to remove or censor exhibits that address climate change, reflecting earlier steps that removed the word “climate” from government websites.
“The only natural resources they esteem are the ones they can extract and sell,” Nash said, criticizing the emphasis on “eliminating impediments” to what conservationists call immediate exploitation.
In April 2025, Trump signed an order removing environmental and climate regulations that had restricted coal and energy production on federal lands, further signaling a prioritization of extraction. Conservation groups, scientists and many members of the public worry these moves will weaken protections, reduce park services, and imperil species and ecosystems on the vast, diverse lands managed by the federal government.
Edited by: Jennifer Collins and Tamsin Walker