U.S. National Parks Had Record Year, But Face Staffing Shortages

The U.S. National Park Service had a record-setting 331.9 million visits in 2024, according to data posted publicly on its website.

But the agency has been instructed, through an internal memo this week, not to publicize the data, The New York Times reported. And it is still faces staffing shortages as it heads into the summer months.

“Parks can publish final data on their website after if it is that is the park’s standard process… but should not issue a press release or other proactive communications, including social media posts,” the memo states.

The NPS website says visitors in 2024 were up 2% from 2023. The previous record was set in 2016 with just shy of 331 million visits. 

The most visited parks were: Great Smoky Mountains National park in North Caroline and Tennessee (12.1 million visits); Zion National Park in Utah (4.9 million visits); and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona (4.9 million visits).

The decision to order “no public announcement of the data” was “interesting considering the damage the administration has inflicted on our parks and park staff in the past few weeks,” Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of Government Affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), told Skift.

The popularity of national parks is “typically celebrated by administrations” and the release of visitation data has been “accompanied by fanfare from both the Park Service and the Department of the Interior,” Brengel said.

Staffing Cuts Impact

Parks are facing significant staffing cuts and resignations, with hundreds of National Park Service employees opting to take the Trump administration’s buyout offer. Those who resign would not be expected to work, and could take up other jobs or vacation during the period, according to the U.S. Office for Personnel Management.

Seasonal workers at U.S. national parks and historical sites had their 2025 work offers rescinded after news of Trump’s federal hiring freeze. 

A potential worker shortfall could hinder the ability of the most popular parks to manage peak season crowds.

While the National Park Service initially rescinded at least 1,000 job offers for seasonal positions, it said in a statement last week that it would hire seasonal workers, after an exemption for seasonal positions was announced. 

According the NPCA, the administration is exempting up to 7,700 seasonal Park Service jobs from the hiring freeze, but with no timeline for reinstatement.

Another challenge facing the Park Service is the administration’s plan to terminate Park Service leases and shutter offices across the country that function as visitor centers, law enforcement offices, museums and hubs for critical park services.

The National Park Service did not respond to a request for a comment.