Will federal cuts to national parks lead to more state park visitors? Travelers are monitoring effect

Going anywhere this summer? Some residents in northern Illinois were planning on visiting U.S. National Parks once school is out.

But recent events have some visitors thinking twice.

Federal budget cuts and staffing reductions are reaching the National Park Service, raising questions for longtime federal employees as well as the millions who visit America’s treasures each summer.

The cuts to 10% of the National Parks staff come just as the National Parks Service announced almost 332 million visitors in 2024 – a record year in attendance. About 1,000 probationary National Park Service employees were fired Feb. 14, and about 700 National Park workers are expected to participate in the buyout program.

“I would hate to get out there and have them closed.”

—  Vicki Woodson of DeKalb

In theory, staff reductions and reduced operations at the national parks could result in an influx of visitors at Starved Rock and Matthiessen state parks. So far, however, Matthew Kosch isn’t seeing any signs of a surge at the state-run parks.

Kosch is vice president at the Sonnenschein Groupe, which runs Grand Bear Resort at Starved Rock in Utica. Bookings are up, he allowed, but that’s expected this time of year because Grand Bear enjoys an increase during the spring break weeks and in anticipation of summer vacation.

“Winter is ending, spring is coming, so people are excited to get out and about,” he said.

Pam Grivetti, president of the Starved Rock Foundation, is concerned that a summer influx of visitors who otherwise would have taken vacations at the national parks could cause capacity problems at Starved Rock, which would in turn lead to trail erosion and parking problems.

“Anytime you have more people there, the impact on the trails and the litter probably will be increased,” Grivetti said, noting that volunteers are needed to meet the influx. “Of course it’ll have an impact if we have more people come in from the national parks, but I always say: Starved Rock has as much to offer as any national park.”

A few extra thousand visitors could have a big impact. Starved Rock last year drew almost 806,000 visitors between May 31 and Sept. 1 – and that was a down year. During the summer of 2020, when pandemic-weary families stormed the park, summer attendance was 1.1 million.

Meanwhile, area residents who’ve planned summer vacations at the national parks are watching for cutbacks but aren’t necessarily devising any Plan B.

Larry Peterson of McNabb said he’s booked a four-night stay at a cabin on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Along the way, he’s going to spend four more days split between Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in Utah.

“I have no plans to cancel regarding the upheaval in staff due to recent events,” Peterson said. “It’s my belief the parks will be open, albeit with limited amenities, which may mean less crowds, which suits me just fine.”

Vicki Woodson of DeKalb is more wary. She has been planning a 10-day tour of the national parks of California and has been trying to get updated information about whether the parks are going to be open.

“Since our focus is national parks,” Woodson said, “I would hate to get out there and have them closed.”

Nikki Yeazel of Princeton was planning a group tour of the national parks of Colorado, Arizona and Utah but is having second thoughts.

“The uncertainty of what the situation will be at that time has us considering a change of plans,” Yeazel said. “These parks are generally quite busy, and with less staff, it seems like it will be a disaster, or there will be limited opportunities to get in. Taking a long road trip to possibly be turned away due to staffing constraints is less than ideal.”

Michelle Rial of Serena said she may be ready to tap the brakes, too. She and her husband were planning an ambitious tour of the national parks in Oregon, Wyoming and Idaho.

“I have been researching parks and places to stay,” she said. “Now, I still plan on researching but don’t know when we will be able to go.”

Kristen Murphy of Woodstock was planning a makeup trip to Yellowstone with her mom. Their first planned trip was halted by the pandemic, and Murphy plans to go through with the trip this time.

“After the news about what’s going on with the park service, I called her and said, ‘It’s now or never’ and booked the same day,” Murphy said. “It’s always been her dream, and she always instilled a love and respect of our national parks in me as I grew up.

“I really should be saving – it’s not cheap to stay there – but again, it’s now or never. At least that’s how it seems.”

Elizabeth Smith of Ottawa is a self-proclaimed “National Park nerd” who called the budgetary upheaval “upsetting and embarrassing.” She’s scuttled any plans to visit in the next couple of years.

“I have seen how overloaded the parks tend to be during high season even with the previous number of staff,” Smith said. “Why would anyone think it would get better unless they are purposely trying to make the system fail?“

Kristen Mueller of Barrington was planning a trip to Mammoth Cave but now is “very conflicted” about the trip.

“On the one hand, I don’t want to be a burden on an overwhelmed system,” Mueller said. “On the other hand, I want to express how much I love the National Parks and support them with my presence.”

As for the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center, which operates under the federal government, staff appears to be safe. Kevin Ewbank, supervisory park ranger, said he’s seen no evidence so far of any closure at the waterway, which typically greets 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a year. The visitor center is just across the Illinois River from Starved Rock.

“It’s not affecting us at this point,” Ewbank said of proposed staffing reductions. “We don’t have any probationary employees. All have been here more than the one-year probationary period.”