The Great Dismantling of America's National Parks is Underway

Systematic destruction of all aspects of our nation for the profits of very few.   There are many many many, many, competitors for the worst of what this administration is doing and this has to be high on the list.  We can NOT afford four more years of Republican environmental policies.

Under this administration, nothing is sacred as we watch the nation’s crown jewels being recut for the rings of robber barons.

For more than 100 years, professional management of our national parks has been respected under both Democratic and Republican administrations.... the career public servants of the National Park Service (NPS), charged with stewarding America’s most important places, such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the Statue of Liberty, were left to do their jobs.

This time is different.... The change began within 24 hours of the inauguration when Trump complained that the NPS was reporting smaller crowds on the National Mall than Obama had drawn. Perhaps this is when the NPS wound up on the list of transgressors. Soon the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, attempted to double the entrance fees, rescinded climate policies and moved seasoned senior national park superintendents around to force their retirements.

Former National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis warns that national parks are being systematically dismantled and suggests Congress should make the agency an independent institution.

After Zinke’s abrupt resignation, secretary David Bernhardt populated too much of the department’s political leadership with unconfirmed, anti-public land sycophants, and announced a reorganization to install his own lieutenants to oversee super regions.... career staff in Washington would be sent to the field to be closer to the people they serve, but in reality, to be out of the way and no longer an impediment to his agenda.  Senior career park managers are likely to be replaced with unqualified political hacks.

You ask, why on earth would someone want to do that to the popular National Park Service... Because if you want to drill, mine and exploit the public estate for the benefit of the industry....if you want the public to ignore the science of climate change.... 

We need to fight to protect our National Parks. These lands are not party favors for the Trump administration to hand out to donors. The attack on our public lands needs to end.

These are not random actions. This is a systematic dismantling of a beloved institution....  It is clear that this administration cannot be trusted with the keys to the vault of our most precious places that define us as a nation, such as Mount Rushmore or Yosemite national park.

....decisions to leave the parks open to impacts during the unfortunate government shutdown, illegally misuse entrance fees, open park trails to e-bikes, suppress climate science, kill wolf pups and bear cubs in their dens to enhance “sport hunting”, privatize campgrounds, and issue muzzle memos to park managers. With a waiver of environmental laws, bulldozers are plowing ancient cacti in national parks along the southern border in order to build a wall.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/10/us-national-parks-dismantling-under-way