03-07-2025
Meet the Volunteers Who Help Keep America's Public Lands Running
'There is nothing so American as our national parks,' said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a radio address from Glacier National Park in 1935. 'The fundamental idea behind the parks,' he went on, 'is that the country belongs to the people.'
Almost 100 years later, the parks are more popular than ever, with recreational visits across the National Park Service soaring to a record-breaking 331.9 million in 2024.
This summer, the parks are operating with reduced staff after cost-cutting by the Trump administration led to firings, deferred resignations and early retirements. That means fewer rangers to lead tours, search-and-rescue experts to find lost hikers and trail crews to clear downed trees.
Less visible to the public are the volunteers who help make the parks and other federal lands run, including 138,000 Volunteers-in-Parks who in 2024 contributed more than 3.7 million hours of service.
'You can go to public lands as a visitor or you can volunteer and take a deeper dive,' said Becky MacKay, who volunteers at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, in Ohio. 'There is so much to learn while providing service at the same time. '
Here are six volunteers between the ages of eight and 88 who have stepped up in surprising and inspiring ways in and around the national parks.
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