America’s Best Idea

The first time I set foot inside Yosemite National Park, I was hiking southbound on the Pacific Crest Trail. Despite having hiked through vast and stunning swathes of the United States, there was something spellbinding about Yosemite Wilderness. The sea of glacial valleys and granite peaks evoked frozen waves. Eons of movement and metamorphosis were disguised as stillness due to my limited perception of time. Like so many others who have visited Yosemite, I was enchanted.

The sense of calling I experienced was not only a sense of wonder inspired by the dramatic landscape. Instead, I was moved by the realization that innumerable generations and people—from myriad moments in time and walks of life—had lived in relationship with this land. Many people worked tirelessly to preserve the ground beneath my feet. As I hiked through one of the most protected wilderness areas in the United States, I felt profoundly humbled by the devotion and dedication of the people whose footsteps I followed. I could feel their presence and the weight of those complicated histories. I could hear the cacophony of voices whispering their stories in the wind.

A couple of years ago, I became one of those stewards and a member of an extraordinary community—those lucky enough to call Yosemite “home” for a time. Though it may sound silly to those with larger ambitions, mine is a dream position. No further explanation is necessary for those that love America’s public lands. The people who pursue careers in service to these exquisite places do so out of devotion to a place as well as an idea. Writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner famously proclaimed, “The national parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” That has been my experience of the Yosemite community—absolutely American, absolutely democratic, and absolutely the best.

In this town, everyone must have a job that supports the park in some way, shape, or form. It is a condition of living here. That shared sense of purpose has a powerful effect. Whether you’re a mechanic, a retail clerk, a police officer, or a scientist—I know that your work supports my work and vice versa. The national park attracts bright people who are service oriented, rather than profit-seeking. The NPS is not perfect, of course, but it is an impressive work in progress. The great outdoors, and the adventures we find out there, do not belong to any CEO. For now, at least, they belong to us all.

The new presidential administration has unleashed a firestorm of unlawful attacks upon civil servants in every federal agency across the government. The National Park Service and Yosemite are no exception. Immediately upon taking office, Trump and his deputy Elon Musk, went to war with millions of ordinary citizens whose work directly ensures the safety and tranquility of the United States. These essential workers—the park rangers emptying trash bins and swearing-in junior rangers—are the “deep state bureaucrats” who Trump has commanded his followers to fear and loathe.

Thousands of job offers and promotions—including those to law enforcement officers, wilderness rangers, wildland firefighters, and utility operators, just to name a few examples—were rescinded. All hiring decisions, even some that preceded the January inauguration, were abruptly recalled and frozen. This included the seasonal workforce that supports Yosemite, and about 5 million visitors, through the height of the summer season.

Federal land management agencies rely upon administratively determined (AD) pay to hire search and rescue resources, as well as wildland firefighters, in emergency capacities. My partner volunteers with the Yosemite ambulance. When he responds to a 9-1-1 call, he is AD hired. The  Trump administration has frozen the park’s ability to hire emergency resources using AD pay. My partner continues to respond to medical emergencies, but he is no longer paid for his time or labor. How long can that be sustained? How long can the park, already stretched thin by chronic understaffing and additional staffing cuts, manage? I worry it is only a matter of time before emergency response resources are unable to respond to every car accident, medical event, and emergency. People will die as a result.

On Valentine’s Day, 5,000 employees across the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and Fish & Wildlife were illegally terminated with no notice. The cuts will not stop there. “Poor performances” were fraudulently cited as the reason for these terminations, although many of these civil servants have overwhelmingly positive performance reviews and mountains of evidence to support their cases. Some of the terminated federal employees were later asked, desperately, to return to their roles. Why? Because America is sustained by workers, not by billionaires.

Unfortunately, many civil servants have not had their jobs restored, including some folks here at Yosemite. These are my friends. These are my community members. This is an urgent concern to anyone who values America’s public lands, or their ability to freely enjoy these spectacular places. These illegal terminations will hobble federal agencies’ abilities to defend communities against wildfires, respond to natural disasters, provide for public recreation, and protect against corporate interests that seek to rape land for profit through resource extraction. This is how public lands become privatized. These power grabs are not hypothetical. They are happening right now.

Public lands are at risk of being sold to the highest bidders. In his first term, Trump moved to illegally open Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments to oil and uranium extraction by redrawing its boundaries. The Trump administration has rolled back more than a dozen environmental protections, not through legislation, but through overreaching executive orders. One of the administration’s aims is to gut the regulatory defenses that prevent the unchecked pollution of our waterways and soils—pollution that directly results in increased rates of cancer, birth defects, and other medical complications. This will benefit a grotesquely small number of rich individuals—but it will not benefit you and it will not benefit me. It will not benefit America or its future generations.

I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, just outside the Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia. It’s a rural, conservative area, and it’s where I fell in love with romping through the forest. My parents are both Republicans and as a child, I was surrounded by conservative media. Having spent my life listening intently to conservative rhetoric and reasoning, I came to understand something very powerful. The Trump administration does not have a vision for governance. They do not create solutions, collaborate on policy, or serve their constituents by supporting working-class people. The tactic underlying their messaging is simple and effective: Fear. The strategy is to identify enemies and attack. While the gap between the rich and the poor has ballooned in the past 35 years, they cast blame on whichever boogie man is in season. When I was a kid, I was told to fear Muslim people. Then I was told to fear gay people. Now, we are told to fear migrants and trans people. When will Republican voters realize the cost of living is so egregiously high because the rich have been robbing us blind?

I am devastated by the people in my family and my community who have succumbed to fear and lost their faith in the American experiment. They regurgitate hateful phrases from their favorite talking-heads, but fail to respond to my earnest questions when I ask them: Why? Why do you support defending public goods like education, healthcare, and public lands? Why do you believe deregulation will benefit anyone other than the robber barons? Where’s the evidence that trickle-down economics has ever benefited working-class Americans? If “balancing the budget” is the priority, why are we slashing taxes for the rich and increasing the debt limit to fund our military spending?

Despite the administration’s attacks, I remain unafraid of the future. Change is inevitable. Our country is never going backwards. Especially with regard to renewable energy sources and climate sciences—progress and innovation will not be stopped. The United States can withdraw from global climate accords, but it will not halt the global progress toward dethroning oil and transitioning into a new age of renewable energy. That momentum will not be halted, our only decision is this: will we be a part of the change, or we get left behind?

Every day, I witness the power of my brilliant little community and I am filled with hope. Every day, I am reminded of all that we have and can accomplish when we work together. Every day, I walk amongst the trees, and I remember: cooperation is the key to life. Cooperation is how we evolve, grow, and live to greet another beautiful day. I recognize there is no shortage of atrocities to mourn and to fear, but if you’re reading this—I believe in you. I believe in us.

If you’re looking for steps to take, please call your representatives and respectfully ask them to do their jobs. You can sign this petition to protect the jobs of National Parks staff. You can sign the petition to protect our national monuments from oil, gas, and mining. Combined, these three actions combined will take less than 10 minutes. Finally, pretty please share this message.