New reporting from KUAC details how Dan Sullivan’s federal cuts gutted Alaska’s National Park Service staff even as visitor demand hit new highs — costing Alaskans jobs and straining access to the parks Alaska’s economy relies on.

“Self-Serving Sullivan’s cuts are harming Alaska’s economy, workers, and all Alaskans who love our state’s beautiful parks,” said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Eric Croft. “This is just the latest in DC Dan’s pattern of slashing the services Alaskans depend on, from national parks to healthcare, all while lining his own pockets.”

KUAC: Report: Federal cuts reduced NPS staffing while visitor demand for Alaska national parks increased

May 5, 2026

• The number of people who visited Alaska’s national parks last year exceeded 2019 levels, completing the rebound from a COVID-19 slump. At the same time, National Park Service jobs in Alaska plummeted back toward pandemic lows amid the Trump administration’s purge of federal workers.

• Karinne Wiebold, an economist with the department, authored the report. She said in a brief phone interview that Alaska’s national parks are a big draw for visitors and an important part of the state’s economy.

• “When people come to visit us, they kind of drop money as they go, you know, in the ports that they stop in, on the cruise ships, on the railroad, on the coach line as they come farther into the Interior, and of course, at the parks, when they’re working with concessionaires,” she said.

• In total, 1.9 million people visited Alaska national parks last year, slightly more than the year before the pandemic. There were about 1.83 million national park visitors in Alaska in 2019, the report says.

• The same isn’t true of park service employment, though, which dropped significantly in 2025.

• At just over 780, park service jobs in the state sank close to pandemic lows last year as a result of the second Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal workforce.

• Wiebold said the cutbacks are still pretty new, and that it’s too soon to tell exactly how that supply and demand relationship will play out. But she said there’s a possibility for additional cuts to park service jobs to materialize this year, and that the state is gearing up for what could be its busiest tourist season ever.

• “International tensions have dampened tourism expectations somewhat, and the recent U.S. war with Iran has pushed fuel prices up, which is also likely to reverberate through the tourism industry,” the report says.