Yellowstone National Park has received $40 million to help build affordable housing inside the park for employees. The cabin-like houses will be built later this year.
With more than 3,000 employees, the park has about 750 who need to live in the park during the peak season. After a flood in 2022, housing has become scarcer for those workers looking for a home as they work in the national park.
Homes that surround the parks are also becoming more and more unaffordable, causing a staffing problem.
"I can count at least five critical positions where we've tried to recruit, but we got turned down by the applicant because of a lack of housing,” said Park Superintendent Cam Sholly to NPR.
With the surge of nightly rentals and similar vacation rentals, housing has become harder and harder to find. Surrounding towns are finding it hard to keep up with this surge and make room for park employees and their families. The clean, safe housing is expected to draw in more employees, as their old trailers and other park housing can be less ideal for their workers.
“This transformational gift will meet a critical need for new housing in Yellowstone, and be a catalyst for more philanthropic investment,” President and CEO of the National Park Foundation Will Shafroth said in a news release from National Park Services.
A new era of donations is expected to help build up the communities and employees in national parks around America.
Yellowstone National Park is expecting to open its spring roads and activities April 19, as weather permits.