National Park Service

The National Park Service said most roads and trails are open, but most buildings are closed. Some are confused about what they’ll find when they arrive at any given park site.

Over the summer, an executive order from President Trump called for the consolidation of federal wildfire programs "to the maximum degree practicable." The secretaries of Interior and Agriculture recently released their plans responding to that and other demands – and they've garnered praise and criticism.

Park road and trails will mostly be open to visitors, but buildings and sites that can lock during non-business hours will stay inaccessible.

The Senate appropriations bill could also lift a hiring freeze and prevent future land sell-offs.

Heart Mountain will work with four former Japanese-American incarceration sites on educational programming. They’ll train kindergarten through grade 12 teachers in about a dozen states.

Consolidating wildfire response could professionalize the field and increase efficiencies, according to the expert WPR talked to. But it could also mean fewer of the collaborations that reduce the risk of destructive burns.

Handing over some sites that cater to mostly local visitors could cut the agency’s budget by 25%.

Frustration among outfitters and guides over federal permitting is not new. Recreation-focused staff and budgets at national forests, in particular, have gone down as demand has gone up. This has been resulting in lengthy delays in responses to applications.

Secretary Doug Burgum’s order grants that DOGE official oversight over the department's consolidation process, including control over funding, policy and personnel decisions.

National Parks Week begins this weekend, kicking off with free entry to all parks on Saturday, April 19 — just weeks after mass layoffs and court-ordered reinstatements of some park workers.