The Trump administration is pushing managers of national parks, refuges and wilderness areas to scale back hunting restrictions, according to an order issued by the Interior Department in January and reviewed in local site rules, raising questions among critics about whether the changes will affect visitor safety and wildlife protections.
The order was issued after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed multiple agencies to remove what he described as “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing, while requiring each agency to justify any regulations it wants to keep in place. Burgum wrote that “Expanding opportunities for the public to hunt and fish on Department-managed lands” strengthens conservation outcomes and supports “rural economies, public health, and access to America’s outdoor spaces,” and he said “The Department’s policy is clear: public and federally managed lands should be open to hunting and fishing unless a specific, documented, and legally supported exception applies.”
The Interior Department order is being implemented across National Park Service sites, where managers typically adopt state hunting and fishing regulations but can also impose additional restrictions aimed at public safety and wildlife protection—such as limits on shooting along trails or near buildings. The National Parks Conservation Association said the order applies to 55 sites in the lower 48 states under the National Park Service’s jurisdiction.
According to a review by NPCA of site regulations carried out after Interior’s directive came to light, some managers have already lifted prohibitions tied to hunting practices such as the use of tree stands that could damage trees, training dogs, using vehicles to retrieve animals, and hunting along trails. The changes reported by the review include extending hunting seasons in the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts through spring and summer, allowing hunters in Texas’ Lake Meredith National Recreation Area to clean kills in bathrooms, and permitting hunters to kill alligators at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana.
The directive is also unfolding as hunting participation has declined amid increasing urbanization, leaving state wildlife agencies with less revenue from hunting license sales and related taxes. The Associated Press report said only about 4.2% of the U.S. population identified as a hunter older than 16 in 2024, citing data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Census Bureau, and noted that hunting advocates and conservative policymakers have explored ways to keep hunting alive, including expanding access on public land.
Dan Wenk, a former Yellowstone National Park superintendent and an NPS deputy operations director, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that park managers established their regulations by talking with stakeholders and that most restrictions had been broadly accepted. Wenk said it did not make sense for the administration to change that structure without substantial public discussion, telling the AP, “This was never a big issue. I’d love to know the problem we’re trying to solve. Then I could understand the costs that it’s going to take to solve it in terms of resources and visitor safety.”
Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace defended the order, saying in an email to the AP that it is a “commonsense approach to public land management” and that any closures or limits needed for public safety, resource protection or legal compliance will remain in place. Peace wrote, “For decades, sportsmen and women have been some of the strongest stewards of our public lands,” and said the order ensures access is not “unnecessarily restricted by outdated or overly broad limitations that are not required by law,” adding in a follow-up email that the department provided the AP only its statement on the order when asked about outreach.
Hunting and fishing groups applauded the directive. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership said in a January statement that the order reflects a balance between wildlife management and outdoor traditions, and Ducks Unlimited posted a statement in March saying Burgum’s order recognizes duck hunters’ “vital role.” Ducks Unlimited said the order “will streamline federal regulations, make them more consistent with existing state rules, and provide more public-land access for outdoor recreation,” in a statement that thanked Burgum for prioritizing “America’s hunters and anglers.”
Not everyone agreed. Elaine Leslie, a former head of the National Park Service’s biological resources department, said the Trump administration is undermining a process built in good faith and that the order does not reflect science-based management. Leslie told the AP via text that she does not want her grandchildren taken to a park unit only to see “a hunter drag a gutted elk they shot across a visitor center parking lot,” or to “enter a restroom where hunters are cleaning their game,” adding, “There is a time and place for hunting, trapping and fishing … but that doesn’t mean every place has to be open to every activity especially at the expense of others and degrading our public resources.”