Washington, DC — The ranks of law enforcement rangers and special agents protecting our national parks have declined to the lowest level this century and could go much lower if the FY2025 budget recently passed by the House of Representatives is enacted. Even as the number of rangers declines, the demand for law enforcement assistance appears to continue to grow. Yet the National Park Service (NPS) does not marshal basic information to assess its ranger needs, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). 

Based upon NPS data extracted via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): 

• Overall, national park law enforcement positions declined by almost half (48%) between 2010 and 2023, with more than a quarter (27%) reduction just since 2021. 

• Reliance upon seasonal or temporary rangers during peak periods has largely disappeared, with only 43 such slots remaining in 2023, compared with 323 just two years prior and as many as 825 back in 2010. 

• Similarly, NPS special agents, plainclothes investigators assigned to complex cases, are down sharply with only 30 remaining nationwide. 

Last fall, Interior submitted a long-awaited report from its specially created Law Enforcement Task Force which found low law enforcement staffing was negatively affecting incident response time as well as officers’ perception of their own safety. This was leading to heightened stress and reductions in retention rates. NPS rangers make up nearly half (45%) of Interior’s entire policing positions.   

“The Park Service’s ranger force is in deteriorating condition and getting worse,” stated Pacific PEER Director Jeff Ruch, pointing to the House proposed FY 2025 budget that would cut overall NPS funding by 12.5%, resulting in the loss of another estimated 1,000 park staff. “This steady ebb of ranger staffing puts both visitors and park resources at greater peril.” 

At the same time as the ranger force shrinks, park visitation has rebounded back to pre-pandemic levels and beyond with several major parks reaching new records. In addition, search and rescues more than tripled between 2015 and 2021, while major crimes also spiked in recent years.  

But the NPS has all but abandoned efforts to assess its law enforcement needs. Although NPS policy requires each park to perform a Law Enforcement Needs Assessment every three years, the agency has abandoned the practice. Meanwhile, a five-year-old Government Accountability Office report warns that security threats within national parks and other federal lands are rising without commensurate investment or appropriate planning. 

Meanwhile, for the past two years, the Park Service has not replied to FOIA requests from PEER on these and related topics, causing PEER to file a lawsuit this spring seeking records on recent search and rescues, reported crimes, attacks on staff, and related items. 

“Park Service leadership should publish this information proactively,” remarked PEER Litigation and Policy Attorney Colleen Teubner, a former Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in New York, who filed the FOIA suit in the U.S. District Court in DC. “Regular release of this data would help both Congress and the Park Service itself to better understand its law enforcement requirements.” 

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Trace national park law enforcement levels 2005-23

Note sharp decline in NPS special agent

Revisit Interior Law Enforcement Task Force Report 

See surging in national park visitation

View the spike in park searches & rescues

Look at rise in major crimes in national parks (2014-19)

Examine GAO report decrying lack of law enforcement planning

Read PEER FOIA lawsuit vs NPS