DENVER—The White House released a wish list of sweeping cuts across the federal government in a memo outlining “major discretionary funding changes” in its 2026 budget request to Congress.

Across the Interior department and U.S. Forest Service, President Donald Trump wants to cut at least $5.1 billion from America’s parks, forests, and waters, as well as from Native American Tribes. The proposal includes disposing of National Park Service sites, eliminating protections for national monuments, and putting all federal wildland firefighters under the control of a DOGE operative with no firefighting expertise.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:

“President Trump and Interior Secretary Burgum just revealed a bleak vision for America’s parks and public lands. Handing over national park sites to states is a non-starter — states can’t afford to manage them, so the inevitable outcome is the closure, then privatization of our most treasured public lands. If this wishlist becomes reality, Americans will lose access to millions of acres of their public lands. 

“Giving DOGE control over America’s wildfire operations should terrify anyone who lives in the West. Elon Musk’s lackeys have no idea how to protect our communities. Firefighting operations are already in chaos thanks to DOGE’s cuts. This proposal would double down on that and consolidate power under someone who is completely unqualified for the job.”

The proposed cuts include:

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

  • $900 million from National Park Service operations, including the transfer of “certain properties” to states
  • $158 million from historic preservation
  • $73 million from national park construction

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

  • $198 million from national monument conservation, including “deep reductions to undo” national monument designations made under Presidents Biden and Obama 

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

  • $170 million from species conservation programs managed by states, Tribes, and other nations

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

  • $564 million from research, investigations, and surveys

U.S. FOREST SERVICE

  • $783 million from forest system management and operations, including selling national forests in order to “rightsize their real property footprint”

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

  • $617 million from Tribal communities and self-governance
  • $107 million from Tribal public safety
  • $187 million from Tribal school construction

WILDFIRE

  • The budget proposes taking wildfire operations away from the Forest Service and consolidating all wildland fire responsibilities at the Interior department
  • Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire is currently controlled by Tyler Hassen, Elon Musk’s DOGE operative who is serving as the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget, exercising complete control over Interior staffing and organization

HOUSING

  • $26.7 million from federal rental assistance programs under the Department of Housing and Urban Development and instituting a two-year cap on rental assistance for able bodied adults
  • The budget says this model would incentivize states and the private sector to provide affordable housing “in combination with efforts related to opening up Federal lands” 

PRIVATE CONSERVATION

  • $754 million from private land conservation under the Natural Resource Conservation Service

Total Interior department proposed cuts: $3.8 billion 

Total U.S. Forest Service proposed cuts: $1.4 billion