DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Our National Parks

As of May 2026, the Trump administration is enacting significant changes to national parks, focusing on restructuring historical exhibits to emphasize American achievements, resulting in the removal of hundreds of displays regarding slavery and climate change. These actions, alongside a 25% reduction in staffing since 2025 and proposed 2027 budget cuts, are damaging to our National Parks.

https://ncph.org/history-at-work/trumps-attacks-on-national-parks-is-an-attack-on-public-history/

This is tragic for every American and for Our National Parks which has been an American treasure since 1916.

It makes me sick.

Millions and millions of people from all over the world come to Our Parks. We all have benefited from the foresight of Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and other Presidents who have protected these magnificent displays of our county's beauty .

Now we have this corrupt criminal destroying what belongs to all of us.

Trump administration finalizes plan to open pristine Alaska wildlife refuge to oil and gas drilling

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Trump administration on Thursday finalized plans to open the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to potential oil and gas drilling, renewing a long-simmering debate over whether to drill in one of the nation's environmental jewels.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the decision Thursday that paves the way for future lease sales within the refuge's 1.5 million-acre ( 631,309 hectare) coastal plain, an area that's considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich'in. The plan fulfills pledges made by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to reopen this portion of the refuge to possible development. Trump's bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, passed during the summer, called for at least four lease sales within the refuge over a 10-year period.

Burgum was joined in Washington, D.C., by Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state's congressional delegation for this and other lands-related announcements, including the department's decision to restore oil and gas leases in the refuge that had been canceled by the prior administration.

A federal judge in March said the Biden administration lacked authority to cancel the leases, which were held by a state corporation that was the major bidder in the first-ever lease sale for the refuge held at the end of Trump's first term.

Leaders in Indigenous Gwich'in communities near the refuge consider the coastal plain sacred, noting its importance to a caribou herd they rely upon, and they oppose drilling there. Leaders of Kaktovik, an Iñupiaq community within the refuge, support drilling and consider responsible oil development to be key to their region's economic well-being.

"It is encouraging to see decisionmakers in Washington advancing policies that respect our voice and support Kaktovik's long term success," Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp. President Charles "CC" Lampe said in a statement.

A second lease sale in the refuge, held near the end of President Joe Biden's term, yielded no bidders but critics of the sale argued it was too restrictive in scope.

Meda DeWitt, Alaska senior manager with The Wilderness Society, said that with Thursday's announcement the administration "is placing corporate interests above the lives, cultures and spiritual responsibilities of the people whose survival depends on the Porcupine caribou herd, the freedom to live from this land and the health of the Arctic Refuge."

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/nx-s1-5584883/trump-alaska-wildlife-refuge-oil-gas-drilling

There is much more to the article at the link provided.

Different people have different priorities. The preservation of these wonderful gifts of nature God has blessed us with isn't very high on some people's priority list. Instead they wish to kill renewable energy and exploit our land handing it over to the uber wealthy oil companies.

Murica!

I cannot put into words how angry I am.

right from the playbook that piggy seemed to know nothing about

Project 2025 proposes a massive overhaul of federal land management, aiming to pivot the Department of the Interior from conservation toward energy extraction. Key proposals include repealing the Antiquities Act to reduce national monument sizes, increasing oil/gas drilling in protected areas, and reversing the "30 by 30" land protection goal.Key Impacts on National Parks & Public LandsReduced Protections: The plan advocates for reversing national monument designations and shrinking boundaries to open lands to mining and drilling.Increased Drilling/Mining:
Project 2025 calls for expanding resource extraction in areas currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and near national parks.Repeal of Antiquities Act:
The plan suggests repealing the 1906 Act, which allows presidents to designate monuments.Personnel Changes:
It proposes replacing career staff with political appointees and restructuring the Department of the Interior to prioritize resource extraction over conservation.Wildlife Impact: .
It suggests weakening the Endangered Species Act and removing protections for species like grizzly bears and gray wolves.
Budgetary ContextAs of March 2024, the National Park Service proposed a budget of $3.57 billion for FY 2025. Project 2025, however, focuses on reducing federal footprint and increasing industry access, which contrasts with typical conservation-based park budgeting.

This is something I hope Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and everyone else should fight against.

Then trump has the audacity to put his picture on Park passes and now passports.

If any American looks into all that had to happen in order to have National Parks. I think they would want to protect this incredible resource.

He wastes billions on a war he promised not to be engaged in.

U.S. national debt has surged to over $39 trillion, having grown by approximately $2.77 trillion in the past year alone.

And now he is out to destroy what has been in place since 1916 for all Americans.

One may begin to think the things he is doing has nothing to do with "All Americans".

If they belonged to us we wouldn't have a pay to enter.

Technically you don't have to pay to enter the Smokies by charter mandate. The work around is if you park for over 10 minutes you have to purchase a parking sticker.

I know most people have been to one of the parks but most only one or two of them, and then only once or twice.

Unbelievable attitude. Sorry - that sort of shrug of the shoulders and lack of any interest in something so important to so many is ... I don't even have the words. It speaks of someone totally groomed to defend and enable anything TD does.

Over 323 million recreational visits were recorded across the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) system in 2025. While this number reflects total visits (including international tourists and repeat visits by individuals), it highlights the immense popularity of the 433 NPS units, which include 63 designated national parks

People that supported Trump always ask me why I wouldn't want a successful business man to run the country,., Truth be told, a successful business man with the Best Interest of America at heart probably wouldn't be too bad at all..

But here's an example of why that person is not Trump, the guy who has so many bankruptcies.

"National Park Service (NPS) visitor spending in 2024 generated a $56.3 billion benefit to the U.S. economy, including $29 billion in local gateway regions. This activity supported 340,000 jobs and $18.8 billion in labor income, while the agency operates on a federal budget of approximately $3–$3.5 billion annually"

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Revenue+from+the+National+Park+service

He takes something that's working perfectly,, and screws it up for his own personal beliefs. That's a move that, unless this leader is some kinda savant, will fail almost every time.

Trump does that constantly.....

All because he wants to "WHITEIFY" America. We are not a Totally White Nation. Why in the hell would you hide that. Shouldn't we celebrate our diversity.......

And I gotta tell you, I don't think it's even him.. It's who ever is pulling his strings... I'll leave it to all of you to decide who that might be.

You are hilarious as per usual. I find your comments ironic. For decades you have been saying that whatever we have or any benefits we have should be paid for. That the costs shouldn't be passed on in the form of debt.

Yet when people pay to enter these parks to help offset the costs of upkeep, maintenance and help pay forest rangers you say, it must not be ours because we have to pay to get in? When you have to pay to put a roof on your house or a new HVAC unit does that mean your house doesn't belong to you because you have to pay to maintain it?

No wonder Native Americans said "White man speak with forked tongue."