America’s public lands have been increasingly under fire in recent months. The Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency have targeted federal public lands agencies for massive terminations of workers and funding. Experts worry that the cuts are a deliberate attempt to sabotage the federal public lands system as an excuse to sell those lands for profit. Indeed, Congressional Republicans recently voted in favor of selling off federal public lands to pay for sweeping tax cuts in a big bill of tax breaks Republicans aim to pass by Memorial Day.
“If this bill passes, the losses to America’s great outdoor legacy will be felt for generations,” Drew McConville, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, said in a statement. Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss said, “Once these lands are gone, they’re gone forever—that means no more hiking, no more biking, no more grazing, no more habitat for wildlife.”
With summer heading into full swing, public lands across the country are set to factor in millions of people’s summer vacation plans to hike, bike, camp, fish, raft, horseback ride, and watch wildlife—highlighting just how important America’s outdoor legacy is to a vast proportion of the population.
Most Americans tend to associate “public lands” with national parks, and national parks certainly do fall under that umbrella. But the 640 million acres of this country’s federal public lands also encompass national forests, wilderness, marine protected areas, and scenic rivers; and the campgrounds, river accesses, hiking, biking and OHV trails, and myriad other sites and facilities that more than 500 million people visit and use each year.
Here are six ways popular summer vacations depend on staffed and funded public lands—and those lands being public in the first place.
Fishing and Whitewater River Trips
Many people don’t realize that our big rivers are a form of public lands, which is why the public gets to canoe, raft, tube, and fish on them. The most highly protected rivers are called “Wild and Scenic,” and include stretches of iconic rivers like the Salmon, Colorado, Snake, Missouri, and Green, among many others. Without protected public access, rivers can easily be privatized and fenced off.
In addition to providing clean water to cities and habitat for fish and other wildlife, rivers provide unparalleled recreation opportunity, including the best flyfishing vacations, best whitewater rafting, and top canoe and standup paddleboard trips. Most of the rivers that people take guided river trips on are patrolled by river rangers. They keep the banks clean by picking up trash and human waste, help manage human/wildlife encounters, warn anglers and rafters about hazards in the river, and often perform first aid and safety roles.
Beach Vacations
Many of our favorite beaches are national seashores, like Canaveral in Florida, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and Point Reyes in California; or lakeshores, like the many along the Great Lakes. These protected shorelines, sites for some of the best beach vacations, mean that these beaches can’t be privatized (i.e. only those with property on the beach can access it), and must stay open for public use.
Campgrounds
The best summer camping is most definitely not restricted to national parks, although camping in awe-inspiring places like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon can seem hard to beat. But it’s often much easier logistically to camp in a national forest like the Bridger-Teton in Wyoming, in designated wilderness like the Frank Church in Idaho, or on Bureau of Land Management sites, like the many in Utah, than it is to secure a campsite in a busy national park.
Public lands campgrounds rely on staff to clean bathrooms, ensure potable water is running, manage trash, run evening programs and other education for guests, help manage human/wildlife interactions, and also often perform first aid and safety roles
Trails
Public lands in the United States are laced with thousands of miles of the best hiking trails, best mountain biking trails, and top horseback riding and OHV trails on offer.
All trails require maintenance, though, from sawing downed trees and clearing brush to re-building sections that have been washed out. This work is performed by trail crews; many of these positions were the first to be eliminated in DOGE’s initial round of terminations in February, meaning that hikers, bikers, horseback riders, and outfitters providing guided trips are likely to be unable to access trails in some of the most beautiful places in the country.
Managing Wildfires
Wildfires are a natural part of ecology, and healthy landscapes rely on fire. Fires, particularly in the West, can also dictate where people choose to go on their summer vacations—sometimes requiring whole changes of plan to avoid widespread smoke from a big wildfire. But many wildland firefighting crews have been left short-staffed by the DOGE terminations, to the alarm of forest and fire officials.
This summer, as they do every year, America’s public lands are set to play a starring role in summer vacations, plans, and adventures—highlighting their importance in American culture and identity.