Terry Zink has spent his entire life in the woods.
As a 57-year-old third-generation hunter from Marion, Montana — a town tucked into the Flathead National Forest — Zink hunts mountain lions and bears while running a small archery target business.
He also voted for Trump, but with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) implementing deep cuts to federal agencies that manage America’s public lands in 2025, Zink is second-guessing his vote.
“You won’t find anyone more conservative than me, and I didn’t vote for it,” Zink told Politico (1). “You can’t fire our firefighters. You can’t fire our trail crews. You have to have selective logging, and water restoration, and healthy forests.”
Across Montana, the impact is already being felt. Hunters are running on overgrown trails, ranchers are seeing drought resiliency and wildfire mitigation funds freeze, and outfitters and guides — who bring in about $314 million to Montana in 2024 — are facing staff cuts that will hurt their businesses.
And it’s not just happening in Montana.
Versions of this scenario are playing out in the West, with real consequences for rural jobs, small businesses, and the cost of hunting and fishing on public lands.
According to the Center for American Progress (2), since the beginning of 2024, the federal workforce managing America’s public lands has shrunk by nearly 20%, from 79,070 employees to 63,141 by September 2025.
The cuts hit these specific agencies the hardest (3):
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US Forest Service: About 3,400 job cuts
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National Park Service: About 1,000 job cuts
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Bureau of Land Management: About 800 job cuts
About 97% of Bureau of Land Management employees work outside of DC, mostly in small remote towns where federal agencies are the largest employers (4). When ranger stations close or seasonal employees are lost, the economic fallout can spread to local gas stations, restaurants and diners, as well as hotels and motels.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, outdoor recreation generated $1.2 trillion in economic output in 2023, accounting for 2.3% of US GDP and supporting 5 million jobs (5). States like Montana, Alaska, Vermont and Hawaii rely on outdoor recreation at twice the national average. In Montana alone, the sector pumped $3.4 billion into the state economy by 2023 (6).
Meanwhile, all of these economic impacts depend on public lands being accessible, well-staffed, and well-maintained.
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Cuts to agencies that maintain public lands may seem like an environmental problem, but cuts can also impact the economy and your wallet. Here’s how:
Research by Headwater Economics shows that rural counties with significant federal land have historically seen stronger job growth than other states. In fact, western counties with 30% or more protected federal lands saw a 345% job increase over 40 years, while counties with no federal public lands had only an 83% increase (7).
The 2025 job cuts will certainly affect these percentages, and stifling job growth in counties with significant federal lands could have a negative economic impact on local communities.
Outfitters cannot run trips without a permit, ranchers need a grazing permit, and guides depend on maintained trails and open access.
With fewer staff at the federal agencies that manage America’s public lands, permits are piling up. A Colorado outfitter told reporters in May 2025 that his permits for the year were already delayed, leaving his entire season and his earnings in limbo (8).
This kind of backlog can lead to trip cancellations and reduced business for outfitters and guides, meaning tourists coming to town for tours may not be spending money and contributing to the local economy. In 2024, visitors to national parks spent $29 billion in nearby communities, generating $56.3 billion in total economic output, according to the National Park Service (9).
According to the Center for American Progress, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) tried to slip language into Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that would have made millions of acres of public land eligible for sale. A bipartisan backlash killed the initiative, but Lee has vowed to continue the push (10). Indeed, Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergum has repeatedly referred to public lands as “America’s balance sheet,” framing them as assets waiting to be sold (11).
Today, Americans can hunt, fish, hike and camp on public land for free, or close to it, but access has a real dollar value. On private land, hunting leases typically cost $10 to $50 per acre, but these costs can vary. A basic 200-acre lease can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 a year. In major hunting states such as Texas, Kansas, and Illinois, prices can range from $25 to $60 per acre (12).
For now, Americans still have access to public lands for these activities, but if states acquire land they can’t manage, selling the land becomes the easiest option. In fact, the state of Nevada retained only 3,000 acres of the original 2.1 million it received from the federal government (13). And when states sell public land, free access to it can quickly disappear.
As for Zink, he’s still in the woods, hunting and running his business. But like many, he’s watching closely and wondering how long the land that makes his living will remain public, accessible and affordable.
We rely only on vetted sources and reliable third-party reporting. For details, see our Editorial ethics and guidelines.
Politics (1); Center for American Progress (2); Mountaineers.org (3); Indoor Climate News (4); Bureau of Economic Analysis (5); Bureau of Business and Economic Research (6); Headwater Economics (7); NPR News (8); National Park Service (9); Axios (10); PBS News (11); land app (12); National Wildlife Federation (13)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
