Park advocates are warning of possible damage and vandalism to all national parks—including Big Bend National Park—with the government shutdown. Funding for all but crucial government employees ended last week as Republicans and Democrats in Congress could not come to an agreement on spending legislation.
“The government has shut down, and the administration is once again putting our national parks and visitors at risk, effectively directing staff to open park gates and walk away,” Theresa Pierno, National Park Conservation Association (NPCA) president, wrote in a statement. “It’s not just irresponsible, it’s dangerous,”
Some 750,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and recent statements from the Trump administration indicate the shutdown could lead to permanent layoffs. These layoffs could further damage park resources and employee morale in the wake of what some NPS employees called the “Valentine’s Day Massacre” in February 2025, when around a thousand agency workers were laid off via email. Big Bend National Park lost at least 5% of its employees on Valentine’s Day. (That number could be higher because federal employees were encouraged to take a buyout offer in exchange for early retirement, but the park has repeatedly denied requests for comment on staffing.)
“The administration is exploiting this shutdown and threatening another round of reckless mass staff terminations, after already gutting a quarter of the Park Service workforce,” Pierno said. “Our parks can’t function without the people who care for them. With deeper cuts ahead, the administration is swinging a wrecking ball at the very mission of the National Park Service, and the damage could be irreversible.”
For Big Bend National Park, the shutdown means no one will be on site at payment booths or ranger stations to collect fees. That may be good news for visitors wanting to save a few bucks, but lost revenue, the possible damage and trashing of facilities, and desecration of park monuments is alarming.
The NPCA pointed out damage done to parks during the last 35-day shutdown in December 2018/January 2019. “Americans saw some of our national parks vandalized, cultural sites damaged, and trash and human waste overflow,” according to the NPCA. “The damage that occurred in our national parks took months to recover from. And in some cases, the damage was irreparable. Unfortunately, Americans should expect much of the same this time around if this shutdown drags on.”
The association noted that at Big Bend National Park, prehistoric petroglyphs were “vandalized and irreparably damaged.”
Big Bend made national headlines during the last major shutdown when a guest who was climbing a rock off-trail in Santa Elena Canyon fell over six feet, shattering his leg. Staffing was so sparse that only one ranger was able to respond to the scene. Luckily, other guests were present at the time of the injury and were able to help carry the injured hiker 1.5 miles back to the trailhead, but the incident was still a sobering reminder of the consequences of inadequate search and rescue staffing.
The NPCA estimates that for every day the shutdown drags on, “National parks will lose as much as $1 million in fee revenue, while gateway communities stand to lose as much as $80 million in visitor spending.” Tourism is by far the most profitable industry in the Big Bend’s “gateway communities”, which a study by Big Bend National Park claims generated almost $57 million in economic benefits in 2024.
Big Bend National Park visitor centers are closed, but most “open-air” trails and roads still are open. Also open are the concessionaire-operated gas stations at Panther Junction and Rio Grande Village—although visitors are always encouraged to come out of Terlingua or Marathon with a full tank.
With a limited number of custodial staff, the park is urging visitors to pack out their trash and other waste. However, key personnel like emergency response teams and law enforcement will still be on duty.
As of Big Bend Sentinel deadline, the international port of entry at Boquillas is still operational. The port of entry is still on its summer schedule through October and is open four days a week: Fridays through Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Be sure to visit nps.gov/bibe for updates if you’re planning to visit the park.