According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the Trump administration is planning to terminate National Park Service (NPS) leases and shutter 34 offices across the country that function as visitor centers, law enforcement offices, museums, and hubs for critical park services. NPCA is calling on the administration to immediately stop these reckless lease cancellations before they inflict even more damage on America’s national parks.
Field offices and facilities slated for lease termination house vital staff including scientists, archeologists, superintendents, and others who carry out the basic operations and mission of national parks. If these facilities are eliminated, eight visitor centers will be shuttered without an alternative location in place. And millions of artifacts stored in climate-controlled facilities will have no equivalent facility to be housed. Emergency, search and rescue and law enforcement facilities will also be shutdown.
NPCA has developed a list of the 34 leases the Park Service has been asked to cancel in the coming weeks, which can be accessed here. The following NPS offices in Arizona are slated for closure, along with their planned lease termination dates:
527 S Main Street, Camp Verde, AZ (Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments Administrative Office)
Planned Lease Termination Date: August 31, 2025
Summary: This office likely serves as headquarters for Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, providing space for the park superintendent, law enforcement, emergency services, IT, and other park support services.
353 W Middle Verde Rd, Camp Verde, AZ (Montezuma Castle NPS Maintenance Facility)
Planned Lease Termination Date: April 6, 2026
Summary: This shared facility supports maintenance operations for Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments, storing equipment and performing repairs to ensure park safety, access, and preservation.
6400 N US Highway 89, Flagstaff, AZ (Flagstaff Area National Monuments Headquarters)
Planned Lease Termination Date: August 31, 2025
Summary: Serves as headquarters for Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, providing a centralized administrative hub for park operations, law enforcement, emergency services, and IT.
930 N Switzer Canyon Dr, Flagstaff, AZ (Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network)
Planned Lease Termination Date: September 30, 2025
Summary: This facility supports 19 national park units across northern Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, focusing on resource monitoring to inform park management decisions.
3636 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ (Southern Arizona Office)
Planned Lease Termination Date: TBD
Summary: Provides administrative and operational support for southern Arizona’s national parks, including law enforcement recruitment and retention, visitor services, and conservation programs.
Statement by Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA):
“It is reckless and short-sighted to shutter National Park Service offices without a careful examination of what they protect and the critical staff who work there. These closures will cripple the Park Service’s ability to operate parks safely and will mean millions of irreplaceable artifacts will be left vulnerable or worse, lost. Quite simply and astonishingly, this is dismantling the National Park Service as we know it, ranger by ranger and brick by brick.
“Between staff being fired or resigning under duress, the National Park Service has lost 9% of its staff in a matter of weeks. The park staff that remain are stretched thin. And now, the administration is making their jobs even harder. Canceling these leases and firing more than a thousand staff do nothing to make our Park Service more efficient. These moves by the administration are pushing our parks past the point of no return.
“For over a century, Americans have loved and fought to protect our national parks. This administration’s actions are a betrayal of that legacy. The American people expect leaders to protect our parks, not dismantle them.”
About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.
Photo credit: Ryan Heinsius/KNAU
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