{"id":288217,"date":"2026-05-11T17:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/288217\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:34:08","slug":"new-trump-directive-could-expand-hunting-access-at-texas-park-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/288217\/","title":{"rendered":"New Trump directive could expand hunting access at Texas park sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to reporting by Outside<\/a> and The New York Times<\/a>, an April 21 memo from Interior Secretary Douglas\u00a0Burgum directed National Park Service<\/a> officials to remove hunting and trapping restrictions that are not considered necessary for public safety or resource protection. The order follows a January directive instructing park superintendents to identify what the administration considers unnecessary barriers to hunting and fishing access on public lands.<\/p>\n

Exactly what rules could change at Texas sites remains unclear. None of the Texas park units identified by the National Parks Conservation Association currently ban hunting outright. Still, many operate under layered federal rules that limit where, when or how hunting can occur.<\/p>\n

The administration says the changes are aimed at expanding access for hunters and anglers.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to Outside, the Department of the Interior called the policy a “commonsense approach to public land management” that removes “outdated or overly broad limitations” while still allowing hunting and fishing to occur “safely and responsibly.”<\/p>\n

Critics say the directive could strip away long-standing restrictions designed to balance hunting access with conservation and recreation across some park sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0NPCA said at least 15 National Park Service sites across the country have already seen hunting restrictions loosened, while roughly 40 more could face changes later this year.<\/p>\n

Among the Texas sites identified by the group are Padre Island National Seashore, where hunting already exists in some areas alongside camping, fishing and birding, and Big Thicket National Preserve, a Southeast Texas preserve known for its dense ecosystems and recreational trails.<\/p>\n

Other Texas locations that could potentially see future changes include\u00a0Amistad National Recreation Area near Del Rio and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River near Big Bend, though it remains unclear what restrictions, if any, could ultimately be removed.<\/p>\n

The NPCA also criticized the directive in a recent press release,<\/a> arguing the changes are being pushed forward without the typical public review process used for park management decisions. The group pointed to recent changes at\u00a0Louisiana’s Jean LaFitte National Historical Park and Preserve, where a ban on reptile hunting was\u00a0lifted, and proposed changes at Curecanti National Recreation Area that could remove language restricting shooting across or toward trails.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chron has reached out to the NPCA for additional comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to reporting by Outside and The New York Times, an April 21 memo from Interior Secretary Douglas\u00a0Burgum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1836,2299,1704,85744,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-288217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-chronnews","tag-chronscience","tag-chronstaff","tag-chrontexas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}