As ‘Megafire’ Burns, Experts Warn Trump’s National Parks Plan Would Bankrupt Arizona and Gut Fire Response

PHOENIX– With the Dragon Bravo “megafire” so far consuming more than 126,000 acres near Grand Canyon National Park, former National Park Service Director Chuck Sams and veteran wildfire chief Bobbie Scopa warned that Donald Trump’s plan to transfer control of national parks to the states would cripple Arizona’s fire response, gut its economy, and put public lands at risk.

On a Tuesday press call hosted by Climate Power, Sams and Scopa outlined how the proposal—which would shift the financial burden of maintaining, staffing, and protecting national parks onto states—would devastate both the parks and the gateway communities that depend on them.

“During my time as director, one of the things that kept me up at night was wildfire,” said Sams, who began his career as a wildland firefighter and most recently led the National Park Service. “We ran the Park Service on about $3.5 billion a year, generating a $15 return to the American economy for every federal dollar invested. Turning these lands over to states would dump billions in maintenance costs on them—costs they simply can’t absorb—and undermine coordinated wildfire response.”

Arizona’s national parks face a $1.5 billion maintenance backlog, including $567 million for parks outside Grand Canyon National Park. Under state control, Arizona would lose access to federal repair funding like the $1.3 billion annually provided through the Great American Outdoors Act. The state’s park budget, which generates just $21.9 million in user fees, would have to double its annual pass to more than $400 to keep pace, and still hire more than 930 additional employees to match current staffing.

Scopa, a retired fire chief who spent 45 years managing western megafires, stressed that fire costs alone could overwhelm Arizona’s budget.

“Arizona would have access to firefighting resources—air tankers, contact crews—but not control of them. They could be sent elsewhere because they’re in a national system,” Scopa said. “Without that federal support, a fire like this could bankrupt the state. The federal government has the infrastructure, workforce, and interagency coordination to manage these fires. States don’t.”

Both experts warned that reduced resources, degraded facilities, and rebranding under state control would slash park visitation, hurting small businesses and cutting state tax revenue. In 2023, visitors to Arizona’s national parks spent an estimated $1.2 billion, supporting more than 17,000 jobs and generating $2 billion in economic output.

“This isn’t just a financial issue—it’s a public trust issue,” Sams added. “National parks are part of a unified system. Breaking them apart introduces chaos, creates inequities for seniors and veterans, and threatens the natural and cultural resources we’re supposed to preserve for future generations.”

For more information, see Climate Power’s full report on Trump’s proposal and their Arizona-specific fact sheet.

About the Speakers

Chuck Sams began his career as a wildland firefighter on the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. He is Cayuse and Walla Walla and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, with blood ties to the Cocopah Tribe and Yankton Sioux of Fort Peck. He has more than 30 years of experience in tribal, state, and nonprofit natural resource and conservation management, with an emphasis on stewardship for future generations.

Bobbie Scopa spent 45 years in the fire service, responding to western megafires, serving as a municipal and wildland fire chief, and overseeing U.S. Forest Service wildland fire operations in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. She also responded to major disasters, including hurricanes and the September 11th attacks.