Tell Congress: Hands off Minnesota's national parks
Students gather around a ranger in the national park that flows through the Twin Cities metro, the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area. (Photo courtesy of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area)
The Trump administration has proposed cutting $900 million from the operation of our national parks — the largest proposed cut in the National Park Service’s 109-year history.
A list of targeted national parks will likely not be available until the president’s full budget is released. However, based on a review of the latest available budget data, the National Parks Conservation Association estimates that a cut of this size "would require eliminating funding for roughly 350 park sites — from the smallest to some of the largest."
Minnesota is home to six national parks, including the 72-mile stretch of river and riverfront in the Twin Cities metro, the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, created as part of a bipartisan effort and central to FMR's mission. Additional beloved parks and sites include Grand Portage National Monument, Pipestone National Monument, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, Voyageurs National Park and a section of the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Despite the park system’s nonpartisan popularity, economic and cultural value, the administration has frozen hiring, forced resignations, eliminated purchasing ability and canceled leases. The impact of the proposed $900 million cut to the park service’s roughly $4.8 billion budget, says the National Parks Conservation Association, would be "catastrophic."
Let's tell Congress to get off the sidelines and reject any reckless proposal that puts our national parks at risk.