National Park Service Cuts Push Fire Island National Seashore Into Uncharted Waters

From the Fire Island and South Bay News, August 31, 2025

By Skylar Epstein

What is the fate of Fire Island National Seashore in the face of presidential administration cuts to the National Park Service?

Over the last eight months, as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the federal bureaucracy, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has targeted the National Park Service (NPS) with unprecedented funding disruptions and staffing reductions. These abrupt cuts have sown chaos across the National Park System, and Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) has not emerged unscathed. FINS staff are stretched thin and existentially stressed; the Fire Island Lighthouse renovation has been delayed by years, and the seashore has been pushed into unprecedented territory.

According to reporting from various national media outlets, including HuffPost and PBS News Hour, NPS employees nationwide have been pushed to their limits through indiscriminate mass firings (for instance, of probationary workers), deferred resignation deals, and early retirements—reducing overall staff and threatening the institutional knowledge needed to run and protect America’s national parks.

Hiring freezes and general uncertainty have made it harder to replace essential talent that is being lost, and they have even delayed the hiring of seasonal workers needed for the peak summer tourist season. Advocates are warning national media outlets that funding and staff cuts will degrade the visitor experience with more litter on trails, no toilet paper in bathrooms, less-maintained facilities, less-protected natural and historic resources, and even threats to public safety. The NPS cuts have also triggered public protests by angry park lovers here on Fire Island and elsewhere across the country.

These issues will likely be exacerbated by President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed back in July. According to PBS News Hour, the new law rescinded $267 million previously earmarked for national park improvements. This cut to the NPS was passed by both houses of Congress and will therefore likely not be subject to the same sort of legal challenges that have dogged DOGE’s attempts to mass fire federal workers and prevent federal spending.

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