Trump is lifting restrictions on hunting in national parks, refuges and wilderness areas

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May x, 2026

President Donald Trump’s administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife. U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has issued an order directing multiple agencies to remove what he termed “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing and justify regulations they want to keep in place. Dan Wenk, a former NPS deputy operations director, said, “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.”