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Great Basin Foundation backs SNPLMA projects, warns of park staffing shortfalls and details emergency hiring support

Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Nevada Legislature · February 25, 2026

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Summary

Great Basin National Park Foundation reported SNPLMA-funded improvements at Lehman Caves and campgrounds and said the park drew roughly 160,000 visitors last year. The foundation described a staffing shortfall from permanent hires and a temporary solution it funded after probationary employees were terminated; several positions remain vacant and resource-management capacity is constrained.

Aviva O'Neil, executive director of the Great Basin National Park Foundation, and Claire Cutler summarized foundation-supported projects and operational concerns for Great Basin National Park. The foundation highlighted SNPLMA-funded work (campground expansion, vegetation mapping and trout restoration) and a major lighting and electrical replacement at Lehman Caves that began after federal delays.

O'Neil said the park saw over 160,000 visitors last year and that SNPLMA (the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act fund) has been a critical funding source for projects that punch "above the park's weight" in infrastructure and visitor facilities. Claire Cutler detailed specific SNPLMA projects: Lower Lehman Creek Campground expansion (from 11 to 20 sites, including more ADA sites), Lehman Caves lighting replacement (work phased to preserve some tours during installation), and Bonneville cutthroat trout habitat renovation with new brood ponds and stream restoration.

The foundation also described staffing challenges attributable to a hiring freeze and to the loss of experienced permanent staff from retirements and buyouts. "The park right now has a 30% reduced permanent staff," O'Neil said, and key management roles were vacant. When five probationary employees were terminated systemwide, the foundation temporarily hired those individuals to preserve visitor services and local economic stability; four later had their positions restored. "We decided to take a leap of faith and to hire all 5 individuals on our dime," O'Neil said.

Why it matters: the foundation’s testimony links federal funding mechanisms (SNPLMA) and nonprofit support to both capital projects and day-to-day visitor services at a remote national park that is an economic anchor for White Pine County. It also exposed operational risks posed by federal hiring freezes and personnel actions.

Next steps: the foundation will continue fundraising for interpretive exhibits, education and the Great Basin Observatory, pursue outreach for the park's 40th-anniversary programming and press for restoration of permanent resource-management capacity.