National park maintenance work sidelined as Trump’s Freedom 250 takes precedence

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 21, 2026

The 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was just months away when National Park Service employees received a surprising directive: Maintenance projects approved for this year at sites across the nation were being relegated to a new “low priority” list. Work wanted by the White House was taking precedence, including repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Meanwhile, almost all of about 1,500 maintenance projects on the low priority list as of last month are expected to go undone. That will worsen a repair backlog at national parks. Maine Sen. Angus King, the ranking member of the Senate’s National Parks Subcommittee, said it could lead to “the deterioration of America’s gems” as sanitation upgrades and basic maintenance don’t happen.