American Flag Hung Upside-Down at Yosemite National Park
An American flag was spotted hung upside-down at Yosemite National Park on Saturday. According to KMPH, protesters said they chose to hang the American flag upside-down as a way to peacefully protest to spread awareness that “public lands in the U.S. are under attack.” An upside-down flag, according to the U.S. Flag code signifies distress or an imminent threat to the country.
The act comes after President Trump initially fired a number of National Park Service employees, but restored dozens of jobs afterward and hired an additional 3,000 seasonal employees for the agency, according to the Associated Press.
“At least 50 jobs are being restored to help maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and collect admission fees, according to two people familiar with the agency’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity,” the AP reports.
A letter signed by Virginia’s two Democratic senators and six Democratic House members urged the Trump administration to reconsider the layoffs of the agency’s workers noting their fear that it would “significantly undermine the Park Service’s ability to protect both visitors and park resources, particularly as we approach peak visitation season.”
The concerns were bipartisan as Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) expressed her worry that Acadia National Park would not be able to “hire the seasonal employees required to collect entrance fees and perform other essential tasks such as maintaining trails and providing first responder services to visitors.”
Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers and a former superintendent of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, said that while seasonal employees are 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.”
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.