CALUMET – At the regular quarterly meeting of the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission Tuesday, Park Superintendent Wyndeth Davis said the park is getting ready for the new year. “We have our plates full heading into 2026,” Davis said, adding that budget details are currently not known.

“That, as you know, is decided by Congress,” she said. “We have always had everything we’ve needed to get through the year, so we’re looking forward to moving ahead with this year.”

While 2026 funding for the NPS remains up in the air, Davis said the KNHP is moving forward with plans for the new year. “If all goes as planned, we should have plenty of interpretive staff to do programming here in Calumet and keep the Visitors Center opened the hours that are advertised on the park website,” she said.

In addition to staffing, work is scheduled for the Reverberatory Furnace building at the Quincy Smelter, which is already funded.

“Basically, it is) eliminating a lot of overhead hazards, excluding some more pigeons,” Davis said. “So, we will have some pigeons who will be evicted, some pigeons were evicted from their favorite places.”

In addition, KNHP will work with artist Kasey Koski once again for additional artwork, which Davis said is already funded. Kasey has produced several metal pieces at the Dry House Ruins alongside US-41 near the Quincy Mine Shaft House.

On Jan. 5, the Senate introduced a three-bill appropriations package that includes the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, the National Parks Conservation Association reported. The legislation includes flat funding for the Operation of the National Park System, rejecting dramatic cuts proposed by both the Trump administration and House of Representatives. Instead, it holds this funding steady to support staffing, operations and public access across the Park System.

The bill also includes key provisions seeking to retain and rehire urgently needed Park Service staff, which would help restore the agency’s capacity to protect our parks, as well as require congressional notification of any plans for future mass firings.

Last May, the federal budget for 2026 was announced, revealing deep cuts to education, Medicare, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Park Service, the Michigan Journal of Economics (JME) reported on Nov. 17, 2025. The 2026 budget calls for a reduction of over $1 billion from the National Park Service, including $900 million in cuts to operations, $73 million in cuts to construction funding, a $77 million reduction in recreation and preservation funding, and a reduction of $197 million from the Historic Preservation Fund.

Due to these budget cuts, sectors such as maintenance, protection, jobs, and the entire economy surrounding these parks will be severely impacted, the MJE reported. Since May, staffing of the Interior Department has been reduced with plans to lay off an additional 2,000 employees in the coming months. Not only has this led to decreased employment in an agency that currently provides jobs for over 21,000 people and 221,000 volunteers, but these staffing cuts also create serious problems within the parks, destroying our national treasures.