Michigan’s Remote National Park Braces for Decline in Visitors This Year

Located in Michigan, one of the nation's least visited national parks is expecting even fewer visitors in 2025.

Reports claim the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts will cut key funding to national parks across the U.S. including right here in Michigan. Here's what we know so far:

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There doesn't seem to be one facet of the American Dream that President Trump and his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) haven't touched. According to WOODTV8  the government is aiming for a 30% reduction in payroll at the National Parks Service meaning the staff and resources that were already stretched thin will need to go even further now.

At What Cost?

Located in Michigan, one of the nation's most remote national parks is already bracing for the impacts as they've found themselves in one of the worst predicaments. Only reported to have seen 28,695 visitors in 2023 transportation to Isle Royale National Park is now in jeopardy. As National Parks Traveler explains:

the National Park Service's ferry that normally takes visitors to the park is stuck in dock without an engineering crew.

Local engineers who operate the largest ferry service to the island, the Ranger III, have accepted a federal buyout to retire early and with the current NSP hiring freeze there is no way to replace them.

The Ranger III is imperative to daily operations on Isle Royale National Park as it not only carries visitors and staff but the food for employees and the lodge, fuel for generators, cargo loads for projects on the island, and it takes refuse from the island to the mainland. As one former Isle Royale staffer told National Parks Traveler,

In short, if the Ranger III cannot operate, Isle Royale cannot be functionally open

The most current update to for Isle Royale from the NSP states all islands will reopen April 16, 2025. The six national parks located across Michigan include:

• Keweenaw National Historic Park - Calumet
• MotorCities National Heritage Area - Detroit
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Empire
• Isle Royale National Park - Houghton
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - Munising