Dear Park Friend,

Spring is a season of change, and we are experiencing that in so many ways here in the Southwest Region of NPCA. At the end of February, we sent our Regional Director, Ernie Atencio, off for new adventures in retirement. We are grateful for his leadership and wisdom that continues to shape our work as we face dramatic changes in federal policies that threaten these extraordinary places and the dedicated park staff who care for them.

Ernie reminded us to focus on the power of parks to unite, and the value of being outside in the places we strive to protect -- to sustain us for the challenges ahead. With that in mind, as you plan your next adventures in our Southwest national parks, I encourage you to be prepared, pack your patience, take care of the parks and yourselves, thank a park ranger and join us in taking a stand to defend them.

Federal Actions and the Future of Southwest Parks
The new administration has taken several actions that have already affected the wellbeing of our parks and the future of the National Park Service. The systematic cutting of NPS staff despite the overall increase in park visitation has left many of our popular Southwest parks unprepared for the spring season, including Capitol Reef, which recorded its highest visitation in 2024. The situation is continually shifting, but under recent court mandates, NPS may be allowed to reinstate the 1,000 park staff that were initially terminated on February 14th, however, many will not return. Because of the ongoing hiring freeze, these vacancies, as well as employees who opted for early retirement and pressured resignation, leave gaps in critical staff that threaten the ability of the Park Service to protect our federal lands. Furthermore, measures targeting diversity, equity, inclusion and access create added uncertainty for parks devoted to protecting and sharing the diverse history of our country, like Amache and Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Sites in Colorado, which tell stories of Japanese internment during World War 2, and the violence committed against the Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the US Army.

Southwest Monuments and Parks at Risk from Energy Development
In addition to staff reductions and threats to transparency around the stories our parks tell, new directives aim to remove federal land protections including the potential to rescind or downsize national monuments to pave the way for more drilling and mining. In early February, Department of Interior Secretary Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3418, which seeks to reduce barriers to energy development by rescinding energy policies and regulations and reinstating leases canceled under the previous administration, offering more public lands for leasing. It also instructs an internal review of oil, gas and minerals in national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act, even though many of these areas have been protected for over a century.

This poses a real threat to many of our national parks and monuments in the Southwest where oil, gas and mineral development at the boundaries of the parks can have significant impacts on everything from air and water quality, to wildlife habitat and cultural sites, affecting overall visitor experience for both the parks and adjacent connected landscapes. This Secretarial Order threatens parks and monuments throughout the Southwest Region including Rocky Mountain, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon and Dinosaur National Monuments. Listen in to learn more about what’s at risk for Dinosaur in UT and CO.

6 Tribes Announce Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante NM Inter-Tribal Coalition
A profound moment in history unfolds as six sovereign nations - the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Zuni Tribe - unite to form the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Inter-Tribal Coalition. Facing renewed threats, this coalition stands to defend Grand Staircase-Escalante as guardians of ancestral territories, declaring that Tribal leadership, whose connections to these lands span thousands of years, must guide their management and protection. This coalition marks a turning point, ensuring Indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge lead the way forward, as it always should have been.

Public Support for Southwest National Parks
People have been coming together, standing up and speaking out in support of parks and park staff including gatherings in parks like Rocky Mountain and White Sands as well as capital cities and gateway communities. Through NPCA, over 240,000 people have already sent messages to Congress, calling on them to protect park staff and this past week, over a hundred volunteers and staff headed to Washington DC for a day of action on Capitol Hill for National Park Advocacy Week. Learn how you can join us in taking action to protect our parks. You can also show – and wear – your support by purchasing an “I Stand with Park Staff” shirt, sticker, mug or tote from NPCA’s store. We are grateful the public is standing up for our federal lands!

Wishing you all a beautiful and safe spring,

Cory MacNulty
Acting Regional Director, Southwest

P.S. To ensure we’re prepared to act when opportunities arise to protect the parks, NPCA has launched the Park Protection Fund. We are seeking $15 million in new investments to support existing and potential new legal cases, advocacy efforts and public awareness campaigns to engage park supporters around the country. Learn more and please donate to help protect our parks.