Billboards in Tucson part of national campaign to knock Trump's park cuts

The campaign takes aim at Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency for its recent budget cuts and staff reductions at the National Park Service.

The progressive, pro-labor advocacy group More Perfect Union has put up 300 billboards in all in 40 cities across the country, with messages tailored to the specific parks in those areas. The signs are slated to stay up for the next four weeks.

The ones in Tucson feature a scenic view of cactus-studded desert beneath the words “Greetings from Saguaro National Park,” where you will find “reduced visiting hours made possible by D.O.G.E.”

The slogan is a reference to staff cuts at Saguaro in February that prompted the park to close its two visitor centers on Mondays.

The park has since rehired the handful of probationary employees who were fired and the visitor centers went back to normal daily operations on March 31.

But park advocates warn that deeper, more damaging cuts are looming as part of the administration’s stated goal to slash spending and significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce.

“National Parks are some of our nation's most cherished resources,” said Faiz Shakir, More Perfect Union’s executive director, in a written statement. “But that’s not something oligarchs care much about. Some elected officials and unelected billionaires would rather privatize or eliminate our public services.”

According to the group, the cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s DOGE team are already resulting in reduced staff, longer wait times and dirty or unsafe facilities at a time when parks have never been more popular.

Last year, the National Park system set a record for attendance, with roughly 332 million visitors to the almost 400 different sites managed by the agency. Saguaro logged more than 946,000 visits in 2024, its sixth busiest year since record keeping began in 1920.

The four billboards in Tucson are located on Speedway just east of Craycroft Road, along Interstate 10 just east of the Interstate 19 interchange, and two on Oracle Road, one north of Grant Road and the other north of Prince Road.

Officials at Saguaro National Park declined to comment on the campaign.

Other parks highlighted by More Perfect Union include Biscayne in Florida, Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Voyageurs in Minnesota, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin and Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.

The billboard for Rocky Mountain National Park says “now with reduced staff.” The one for Death Valley National Park says “heat deaths rise, safety staff cut.”

Though the message on the signs about Saguaro isn’t accurate anymore, one local park booster said he supports anything that calls attention to what could be lost as a result of the DOGE cuts and the White House’s proposed budget for the coming year.

“Everybody goes about advocacy in different ways,” said Fred Stula, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Saguaro National Park. “Whatever gets the job done.”

Stula said the national parks were already understaffed and underfunded. Now the Trump administration is proposing devastating cuts totaling roughly $1 billion, nearly one-third of the agency’s total budget.

The administration’s spending plan for the coming fiscal year, released on Friday, also recommends turning some sites over to states and removing them from the national park system altogether.

Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, called it “nothing less than an all-out assault on America’s national parks.”

“This is the most extreme, unrealistic and destructive National Park Service budget a president has ever proposed in the agency’s 109-year history,” Pierno said in a written statement from the independent, nonpartisan group that supports the park system.

If it takes a few billboards to keep people engaged with what’s happening, Stula is all for it.

“The fight isn’t over I don’t think,” the Friends of Saguaro executive director said. “People need to speak out and be advocates for the places that they love.”