On Saturday, a photo of an American emblem hanging upside-down in Yosemite National Park was spotted. In a peaceful protest, activists said they hung the American flag upside down to raise awareness that “public land in the U.S. are under attack.” An upside-down emblem, according to the U. S. Flag code signifies stress or an immediate threat to the country.
The Associated Press reported that President Trump first fired a number of National Park Service staff before restoring lots of work and hiring an additional 3, 000 annual people for the organization.
According to two people with knowledge of the company’s intentions who spoke on condition of anonymity, “at least 50 work are being restored to help maintain and clean parks, teach visitors, and obtain admission fees.”
The Trump administration’s employees were asked to reconsider the company’s cuts in a letter signed by Virginia’s two Democratic lawmakers and six Democratic House people, saying that they worried that it would” significantly erode the Park Service’s ability to protect both readers and park resources, especially as we approach peak visit time.”
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine ) expressed her concern that Acadia National Park would not be able to “hire the seasonal employees required to collect entrance fees and perform other essential tasks like maintaining trails and providing first responder services to visitors.”
While seasonal employees are expected to return, “it will take a while to get to the number of seasonals hired to avoid some of the impacts we’ve talked about,” said Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers and former superintendent of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.
Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, called on Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, to “make sure these parks are operating at full capacity this spring and summer”. In his remarks, Whitehouse criticized President Trump and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ), for being “disconnected from]the ] reality” that “national parks are something that all Americans cherish”.
” President Donald Trump has not nominated a park service director, a position that requires Senate confirmation”, the AP reports. Jessica Bowron, the agency’s comptroller, is serving as the agency’s acting director.
