Nearly 4,000 campsites across California’s 18 national forests may close for part or all of the summer season due to budget cuts resulting from President Trump’s federal spending freeze, according to a report by The New York Times.
The potential closures could affect popular outdoor destinations in the Lake Tahoe and the Mount Whitney areas, impacting visitor centers and backcountry trails. An internal memo from the U.S. Forest Service, cited by The Times, warned that some sites may become “unsafe” to maintain because of financial constraints.
Forest Service employees expressed concern that the funding freeze could jeopardize vital services such as waste removal, trail upkeep, and search-and-rescue operations.
The report also highlighted that staffing cuts have already resulted in the loss of the last permanent wilderness ranger in Desolation Wilderness, and visitor centers in other areas could face closures as well.
Last year, regional managers announced the elimination of 400 seasonal positions across California’s national forests. More recently, The Times reported that at least 2,000 Forest Service employees were terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Meanwhile, the National Park Service has also been impacted, with Yosemite National Park delaying reservations for popular campsites from June 15 to July 14.
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##RVT1199b
Booo
Booooo!!!!
One of my best vacations ever was during a government shutdown.
Death Valley was “closed” for almost a week.
I had the entire park to myself. How nice it was to not have to deal with all those people.
If you’re wondering, the gates remained open the entire time.
Does the word selfish come to mind? Hope you’re not a veteran in need of services as you might have the whole hospital to yourself after the Kakistocrats have their way.
Hi, Bill. I’ve never heard that term before, even though it’s apparently been around since the 17th century! Thanks for the history lesson.👍 Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 -Diane at RVtravel.com
That’s the spirit, mate! Living in doom & gloom and slamming your fellow man for his opinion.
No, I’ll be fine. I live by hard work and self-determination.
It’s morning again in America.
That’s just plain rude…. and I know rude!!!!
Nothing selfish about what Bob did. The gates were open! He went in and enjoyed himself as anyone else could have. He didn’t have any special pass available only to him.
We were campground hosts after the shutdown. The gates were open because it’s a state highway . Do you have any idea of the amount of human waste and litter was picked up during that closure?
And people cutting down Joshua Trees in JTNP. 🙁
Yup… it’s the same amount as when it’s open. @@
No idea whatsoever.
You’ll have to go behind the bushes to relieve yourself.
This is a very misleading headline. The state of California is not shutting anything down. It is the Federal Government that is closing down national parks, forests, and monuments, and it is true in every state that has such national recreation resources.
This fear mongering does not need to be spread. The world may explode tomorrow but no one’s talking about that. Until the word comes down that it is going to happen don’t keep talking about the maybe.
This is what the slim majority voted for.
Nothing slim about it!
1 1/2%? sounds slim to me
7 out of 7 swing states. 92% of the counties nationally and an increase towards red in all but 40 counties nationally. An increase toward the Red column with blacks, with Hispanics and with Asians. An improvement in the under 29 demo by 18 points. Popular vote victory and the electoral college.
Now tell me, where did the Ds do better in 2024? Which obscure demo did the D’s outperform 2020?
I don’t know how your measuring it but that’s what I call a mandate.
A plurality, not even a majority.
Thank you for the warning, RV Travel! Have a great day and safe travels!
That’s OK I don’t go to that crime ridden state!
A better title for the article would be “California may not close 4,000 campsites due to Federal budget cuts”. There. Exhale . . .
The wailing at the sky, gnashing of teeth, hair pulling, stomping of feet, and walking in circles as a result of the last election, and will likely continue in the foreseeable future. The New York Times is not exactly unbiased. ALWAYS look for motivation on anything that you read.
Correct. In private industry we dealt with cuts all the time. Managers and leaders were expected to, and measured on, finding and developing new and more efficient ways to get more done.
Government, however, does not seem to face these annual headcount challenges and just “always needs more.” While pain will occur, challenging the Federal workforce is way overdue. The stories, to garner attention, are always about doom and gloom and never about the end game, which in this case is working to bring revenues and costs more in balance at a Federal level.
Side note: my brother was a career Minnesota DNR Parks employee. The waste he saw used to drive him crazy.
Amen.
Contact your federal politicians and complain about the closures. Tell them if they don’t do something to keep them open you won’t vote for them.
DOGE strikes again. Can’t work without staff. Going to get worse before it gets better.
The sad thing is it has been getting worse for years. All these Federal agencies have been out of control, hiring people and spending other people money. If you actually see that, I feel sorry for you.
It sure was nice to see a jobs report this week where public sector jobs went down not up. Fully half the jobs created the last 4 years were tax payer funded Gov jobs just to keep the numbers padded. I’m hoping for fully, 1 million gov jobs to be eliminated and we can bring a few back if truly needed.
Not to worry, the coffee rooms at the HQ buildings will be fully staffed, offering all the free refreshments you could imagine, so the FAT can still enjoy their morning and afternoon coffee HOUR!!
Native Californian here. Very concerned about our beloved and beautiful parks. These are dark times indeed.
I’m more worried about the Pacific Pallisades being Smart Citied, just like Maui. Dark times indeed.
My days are much brighter since Nov 5th.
“May close, could close, potentially close, could jeopardize”. Nothing definitive in those statements.
Classic journalism. @@
Sadly this appears to be a growing trend with what used to be a very informative newsletter.
In the interest of BALANCED reporting; WASHINGTON (AP) — “The Trump administration is restoring jobs for dozens of National Park Service employees fired amid government-wide reductions and hiring nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers, following an uproar over an aggressive plan to downsize the agency.” at least two articles in today’s newsletter seem designed to instill panic and insecurity rather that balanced information.
Thank you for reporting that. Sad to say, it would not have happened without you.
Seems like doom & gloom is all we see here anymore.
So your saying g the authors of this report are cherry picking data to drive a narrative? Say it’s not so….LOL 🤣😂
I know that Federal employees play a major role in keeping our natl parks running. But I’ve noticed many concessionaires running the parks…which are private companies contracted to take reservations, staff facilities, etc. We don’t need Federal employees to do all that. Concessionaires set prices to make a profit, don’t they?
However, there are Federal employees managing those contracts, plus the law enforcement rangers. In addition, the contract specifications can’t possibly include everything that might come up, and the contractors will ask for a very expensive change order for each item that wasn’t included in the original contract. Using contractors for continuing full time requirements is false economy.
Does anyone know the TOTAL number of campSITES (as the headline reads) in those 18 national FORESTS….it doesn’t say national PARKS? National forest land encompasses a lot more area that just the traditional parks that everyone thinks of. I mean, how can you even know what you’re talking, or debating or worrying, about if you don’t even know the numbers? In the 4,000 that are possibly closing that number could include established campgrounds, BLM dispersed sites and other lesser known legal camping areas? A percentage would be a much better way to understand the scope of these cuts. I tried to find the answer, but it would take a lot of time. Not my job….. 🙂
The forests where closing is possible are FEDERAL. NOT Californian. Misleading headline. Please repair.
Fear Mongering
Sounds like fear mongering yet again. It’s not hotel rooms–it’s campsites. How many people do they need? Someone to oversee check in/out, and someone to keep restrooms (if any) clean. Too many numbers thrown around lately with no facts to back them up.
So I read this “article” twice and there appears to be only two facts. One employee (a permanent wilderness ranger in Desolation Wilderness) lost their job and Yosemite has delayed “some” reservations for a month.
I don’t get all the over dramatization that we are seeing in rvtravel these days. I really come here for factual RV travel information, not speculation and hearsay.