“Well overall Park Service staffing has been going down for the last 20 years, even as visitation has been going up, there are new parks, and new acreage, and things like that,” said Jeff Ruch of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “And law enforcement’s been going down even further.”
He said that parks have received budget increases during the Biden administration.
The new funds could help address the depleted ranger force, depending on how parks choose to spend the money.