Why It Matters

A recent CRS report on National Park Service (NPS) funding reveals a widening gap between what the agency has received and what it needs to maintain its operations and infrastructure.

While nominal appropriations have grown modestly over the past decade, inflation-adjusted dollars tell a starkly different story: the agency faces real funding constraints even as its maintenance backlog has nearly doubled.

The administration's fiscal year 2026 budget request of $2.116 billion was 37 percent lower than what Congress ultimately enacted, signaling conflicting priorities between the executive branch and lawmakers.

The request would have decreased or eliminated funding for all NPS accounts compared to fiscal year 2025 levels and would have supported only 13,598 full-time equivalent staff, representing a 26 percent reduction compared to fiscal year 2025 estimates. Congress rejected that approach, providing $3.267 billion for the agency instead.

Staffing reductions are already significant. Full-time equivalent staffing fell from 19,668 in fiscal year 2017 to an estimated 16,039 in fiscal year 2026, an 18 percent decline overall over the last nine years.

The Big Picture

The appropriations picture becomes clearer when adjusted for inflation. Regular discretionary appropriations for NPS grew from $2.932 billion in fiscal year 2017 to $3.267 billion in fiscal year 2026 in nominal dollars, representing 11 percent growth. However, when adjusted for inflation using GDP Chained Price Index data, NPS regular discretionary appropriations decreased 16 percent over the same period. Year-to-year, the fiscal year 2026 regular appropriation represents a 2 percent nominal decrease from fiscal year 2025, but a 5 percent inflation-adjusted decrease.

The Operation of the National Park System account received $2.901 billion, or 89 percent of the total. The Historic Preservation Fund received $181 million, or 6 percent. National Recreation and Preservation received $92 million, or 3 percent. Construction received $88 million, or 3 percent. The Centennial Challenge account received $5 million, or less than 1 percent. The Construction account fell from $209 million in fiscal year 2017 to $88 million in fiscal year 2026, a decline of 68 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. The Centennial Challenge account declined 81 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars over the decade.

Congress has supplemented regular appropriations with disaster relief. It provided $128 million in supplemental appropriations for NPS in fiscal year 2019 for Hurricanes Florence and Michael and other disasters under P.L. 116-20. In fiscal year 2022, Congress provided $229 million in supplemental appropriations for natural disasters under P.L. 117-43. The fiscal year 2023 supplemental totaled $1.500 billion under P.L. 117-328.

Park visitation has declined modestly. Annual recreational visits peaked at approximately 330 to 332 million in 2017 and 2024, but declined to approximately 323 million in 2025. Visitation declined 2 percent over the decade from 2017 to 2025. Factors cited for the visitation decline include COVID-19, weather disasters, and a six-week government shutdown in October to November 2025. The National Park System's land size remained roughly stable at approximately 85 million acres, though 19 new units were added during the fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2026 decade.

The Bottom Line

NPS infrastructure and maintenance backlogs have become a bipartisan concern, with Congress already rejecting deeper budget cuts and likely to revisit funding levels and priorities in the 119th Congress.

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