The Trump administration is making a push to expand hunting opportunities across federal lands, and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming has found itself squarely in the crosshairs of this new directive. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has given park officials a tight deadline to figure out how to make it happen, even though the reality on the ground might make that goal tough to achieve.
In early January, Burgum issued an order requiring federal land managers to develop recommendations for increasing hunting and fishing opportunities on public lands managed by the U.S. Department of Interior. Every agency under the Interior Department umbrella has four months to come up with a plan. For Grand Teton, that means park staff have until May 8 to provide recommendations for expanding hunting opportunities that Congress has already authorized.
The directive also requires parks to review their regulations and identify any restrictions on hunting or fishing that go beyond what Congress actually mandated. Once those restrictions are identified, park officials need to figure out what modifications would be appropriate.
A Unique Situation Among National Parks
Most people don't associate national parks with hunting, and for good reason. The National Park Service's founding legislation from 1916, known as the Organic Act, generally prohibits hunting in parks. The idea was to create protected spaces where wildlife could exist without the pressure of being harvested.
But Congress has carved out exceptions for dozens of parks over the years, and Grand Teton is one of them. The park's 75-year-old enabling legislation specifically allows for elk hunting under very particular conditions. The law calls for a "controlled and managed reduction" of elk by "qualified and experienced hunters" who are considered "deputized rangers."
That language matters because it sets boundaries around what can actually be done. The hunt that takes place in Grand Teton isn't like a typical state hunting season. It happens near roads and sometimes unfolds in view of tourists visiting the park. Over the years, this has stirred up controversy and even led to lawsuits.
Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park, said the park is still waiting for specific guidance on how to implement Burgum's order. She referred questions to the Park Service's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Reality Of Elk Numbers
Here's where things get complicated for anyone hoping to see a big expansion of hunting in Grand Teton. The Jackson Elk Herd, which moves through the park, has been hovering slightly below its population objective of 11,000 animals. For the past three years, the herd has consistently remained below that target number.
The Park Service works with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to set hunting seasons and quotas for what's officially called a "reduction program" in the fall. Because the elk population has been down and because long-distance migrating elk pass through the park on their way to wintering grounds, hunting has already been scaled back significantly in recent years.
There was a time when hundreds of hunting licenses were available for the Grand Teton hunt. Today, that number has dropped to just 20 tags for hunt area 75, as Wyoming classifies it.
The situation is expected to get even more challenging in the years ahead. Wildlife disease experts are predicting the Jackson Herd will shrink considerably because of chronic wasting disease, which is always fatal to infected animals. A planning process is currently underway to change the historic practice of feeding elk in an effort to prevent the worst outcomes from the disease.
Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, pointed out the obvious problem with trying to increase hunting when the herd is already below objective. "The Wyoming Game and Fish Department objective for the Jackson Elk Herd is 11,000, and it's been below that for the last three years," Combs said. "It seems like Game and Fish would not want to increase hunting within Grand Teton National Park."
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department declined to be interviewed for this story.
The Broader Picture For National Parks
Grand Teton isn't the only park that might struggle to meet Burgum's directive. There are nearly 70 units in the Park Service system where hunting is permitted to some degree. In Wyoming, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway is another example where hunting seasons are broader and generally mirror what the state Game and Fish Department sets.
But as Kristen Brengel, a lobbyist with the National Parks Conservation Association, explained, the Congressional language authorizing hunting in specific parks is often quite restrictive. Each park's situation is unique, based on what Congress wrote into law when the park was established or later amended.
"You can't abandon the Organic Act to hunt," Brengel said. "That's why I think this is going to be a fruitless exercise."
Brengel also raised concerns about adding more duties to a Park Service that's been steadily losing staff. According to her, the Park Service has lost a quarter of its workforce since the second Trump administration began. At Grand Teton specifically, the full-time, year-round workforce had shrunk by 20% as of October.
Creating a plan to expand hunting opportunities requires staff time, meetings, analysis, and public input processes. All of that takes people power, and there are fewer people available to do the work.
"If Doug Burgum wants more of something, he should focus on more staff," Brengel said. "You're not going to get any of these things that he wants done with the amount of staff he has now at the Park Service."
Support From Hunting And Conservation Groups
While national park advocates have expressed skepticism about the directive, it's received a warmer reception from hunting organizations and some corners of the conservation community. Burgum's order applies to all Interior Department agencies, not just the Park Service. That includes the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where hunting is far more common and well-established.
Greg Sheehan, president and CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation, praised the directive in strong terms. He called it "one of the most important conservation and access actions taken in decades."
"Secretary Burgum is reaffirming that hunting and fishing are not fringe activities on public lands," Sheehan said in a statement. "They are foundational to how wildlife is conserved, funded, and managed in America."
That perspective reflects a long-standing view among many sportsmen and wildlife managers that hunting license fees and excise taxes on hunting equipment provide crucial funding for wildlife conservation. From this viewpoint, expanding hunting opportunities isn't just about recreation—it's about maintaining a funding stream that supports wildlife populations.
During a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, Brian Nesvik, who is a Wyoming resident and currently serves as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, brought up Burgum's order as an example of what he sees as positive actions by the Trump administration regarding public lands.
"I don't believe that anybody should be worried about what this administration is doing with public lands," Nesvik said.
What Comes Next
The next few months will reveal whether Grand Teton and other parks can find ways to expand hunting within the constraints of their existing Congressional authorities. For Grand Teton, the challenge is particularly acute. The park can only offer elk hunting, and only under specific conditions. The elk population is trending down, not up. And chronic wasting disease casts a long shadow over the future of the Jackson Herd.
Park officials will need to balance the directive from their agency's leadership with the biological realities of wildlife management and the legal boundaries set by Congress decades ago. They'll also need to do it with fewer staff members than they had just a year ago.
The 310,000-acre park sits in one of the most iconic landscapes in America, where the Teton Range rises abruptly from the valley floor and elk, moose, and other wildlife draw visitors from around the world. Any changes to hunting policy there will be scrutinized by conservationists, hunters, local residents, and the tourism industry that depends on the park's appeal.
For now, the clock is ticking toward that May 8 deadline, and park officials are waiting for more specific guidance on exactly what the Interior Department expects from them. Whatever recommendations they develop will need to thread a narrow needle—increasing opportunities where possible while respecting the legal limitations on what can actually be done and the biological reality of an elk herd that's already below its population goal.
The outcome will likely serve as a test case for how the Trump administration's push to expand hunting on public lands plays out in places where the legal, biological, and practical constraints are as complex as the mountain landscape itself.
