• Elon Musk's DOGE has taken control of the National Park Service.
• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum granted expansive powers to Tyler Hassen.
• Concerns arise over potential mass firings of park personnel.
• Conservation groups condemn the move as harmful to national park management.
• Legal actions from conservation organizations against DOGE's policies are underway.

A significant restructuring is underway at the National Park Service as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been given control over critical administrative functions. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed a secretarial order granting Tyler Hassen, DOGE’s assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget, extensive powers to oversee the Department of the Interior, which manages 400 national parks and historic sites across the U.S., according to SFGate, The Hill, and Los Angeles Times.

The secretarial order empowers Hassen to make significant organizational changes, funding decisions, and manage personnel actions, which raises concerns about possible mass firings of park staff and wildlife specialists. Critics are alarmed that this move could effectively dismiss thousands of civil servants responsible for the management of national parks, according to The Hill and Los Angeles Times.

Jennifer Rokala of the Center for Western Priorities condemned the decision, asserting it allows unqualified DOGE officials to dictate policy for national parks without relevant expertise. "Doug Burgum just gave DOGE free rein over all of that,” Rokala stated, highlighting the absence of experienced leadership which could jeopardize the management of critical resources, according to Los Angeles Times and The Hill.

Concerns surrounding Hassen’s background as a former oil executive and the broader implications of the DOGE initiative have also sparked legal reactive measures from various conservation organizations. The Sierra Club and others have filed lawsuits against DOGE for alleged overreach in its authority and actions impacting national parks, revealing existing tensions between environmental priorities and government restructuring efforts driven by the Trump administration, according to Los Angeles Times.

This ongoing transition at the Department of the Interior signals potential challenges for national park management, specifically related to staffing shortages that were already pronounced prior to this control shift. Reports indicate that significant vacancies exist within park superintendency, complicating the operational capabilities of the National Park Service further as thousands of employees have resigned or accepted early buyouts during this restructuring phase, according to SFGate and The Hill.