WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration’s proposed budget, released this month, includes transferring hundreds of National Park Service sites to state management. This comes as the administration seeks to cut the NPS budget by $900 million.
Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter Celebrates Critical Environmental Justice Bill
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order that would potentially require Interior sites to reinstate any monuments, memorials, statues, or markers that have been removed or altered.
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that the Interior Department temporarily suspended an air-quality monitoring program in the national parks.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Sens. Angus King and Steve Daines introduced the bipartisan America the Beautiful Act, which would reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) and increase its funding. The LRF, first authorized in the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act, needs renewal to continue its work addressing the public lands maintenance backlog.
In response, Jackie Ostfeld, Sierra Club Outdoors for All campaign director, said:
WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, volunteers from the AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps were told they would be discharged from their service early as part of DOGE efforts to slash the federal workforce.
WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday, the Interior Department issued an order to ensure that all national parks and historic sites remain open and accessible to the public.
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, the White House announced an executive order demanding the Secretary of the Interior review and reinstate public monuments, statues, and memorials that were previously removed or updated to reflect a more inclusive and accurate accounting of history. The order also bans any monuments and other markers that might criticize colonial figures.
The Interior Department terminated six committees, including the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names, which was established to support efforts to rename federal geographic features or places with racist, offensive and derogatory names.
WASHINGTON, DC – As a result of Donald Trump’s broad executive orders restricting the language that federal agencies are allowed to use, the National Park Service has removed references to transgender and queer people from their webpages, including the one on the Stonewall National Monument. Other pages referencing the queer community have shortened LGBTQ+ to LGB. Other federal agencies are also removing references to women pioneers and contributors on their webpages.
This week, President Trump’s first actions in office included mandates to rescind executive orders from Presidents Biden and Clinton that established or supported programs seeking to expand access to nature and the outdoors for disadvantaged communities.
Yesterday, President Biden signed the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act into law. Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous releases the following statement.