Calif. congressman: Trump admin wants to monetize, privatize national parks
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, laid into President Donald Trump in a recent podcast appearance, criticizing his administration’s turbulent management of federal lands, downsizing of staff at national parks and weakening of the Endangered Species Act, among other executive actions.
“I think it’s chaos, in a nutshell,” Huffman said of the Trump administration’s endgame on the National Parks Traveler podcast. “It’s the same thing that we see across the board. From their economic policy to their social policy to their foreign policy, chaos is the point. Chaos is the feature. And it is, frankly, how authoritarians divide us and overwhelm us and consolidate power.”
Cuts to National Park Service staff across the agency have left park scientists and rangers filling in on bathroom cleaning duties ahead of the busy summer season, and yet Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has issued an order for the parks to “remain open and accessible.” Individual park leaders must now consult top Interior Department officials before enacting closures or reductions to operating hours and visitor services.
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By: Sam Hill
Source: SFGate
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