The affected work includes plans for two interns to care for native plants and help restore landscapes at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, as well as an $800,000 project to survey 3,000 acres of shoreline newly exposed as Lake Powell’s water recedes. Other projects in the region include invasive-fish removal at Glen Canyon and habitat work at parks and preserves across the Southwest.

The agreements had received congressional appropriations and were expected to start Oct. 1. The agency halted the funding in August, saying the projects did not align with the administration’s priorities. The Interior Department has not explained how the individual projects failed to meet those priorities or said whether the funding will be restored.

The department said it is directing taxpayer dollars toward making life more affordable and expanding access to public lands, and that it will prioritize funding that serves the public and keeps parks safe, affordable and open.

At Organ Pipe, the proposed intern positions were meant to add capacity for native-plant care and restoration amid ecological pressures, including construction of the border wall. Lilly Bock-Brownstein of the Center for Western Priorities said the work would have been important to the park, but now will not happen as planned.

The funding pause also affects projects elsewhere in the West, from endangered desert tortoise monitoring at Mojave National Preserve to native-seed collection for burned areas at Joshua Tree National Park. A separate Lake Powell project would have documented archaeological resources along the changing shoreline.

The new designation for the agreements is “disapproved,” but project partners say they do not know whether that means cancellation, further review or a temporary delay. Delays can have lasting consequences: field projects often require months or years of preparation, and missing a suitable season can push work back by a year, said Matthew Nelson, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association.

Partnerships allow the Park Service to work with nonprofit, tribal, state and other organizations on projects ranging from surveys to restoration. Those groups can bring in additional fundraising and volunteers, potentially multiplying the impact of federal funding. The Great Basin Institute, a Nevada-based organization working throughout the West, said the pause affected 78 of its projects and nearly $13 million in financing.

The cuts come as parks face staffing shortages and a backlog of maintenance needs. Earlier this year, nearly 1,500 approved projects at more than 200 park sites were downgraded to low priority, according to the Center for Western Priorities. In Arizona, that separate list included stabilizing Grand Canyon Lodge and cabins on the North Rim after the Dragon Bravo fire.

Park advocates warn that putting off routine maintenance and ecological work can leave parks less prepared for future damage and make repairs more costly. For Arizona communities and visitors, the effects of the paused projects may not be immediately visible, but the work was intended to protect natural and archaeological resources over the long term.