Hundreds of onlookers who gathered in Yosemite National Park to witness the annual firefall display got more than they bargained for when demonstrators took the opportunity to fly an inverted US flag over El Capitan to protest the Trump administration's recent hiring freeze.
The crowd had gathered at the base of the 7,500-foot cliff to view the annual phenomenon, created when Horsetail Falls is backlit at sunset, when six climbers rappelled down to secure the upside-down American flag. Flying a flag upside was traditionally used at sea to show a ship was in distress, and has since been embraced as a symbol of protest. The flag remained in position for several hours before the climbers removed it.
“The purpose of this exercise of free speech is to disrupt without violence and draw attention to the fact that public lands in the United States are under attack,” reads a statement released by the demonstrators.
The statement continued: “Firing 1,000s of staff regardless of position or performance across the nation is the first step in destabilizing the protections in place for these great places.”
Amber Walker shared photographs of the protest with Advnture for this story, writing on Instagram: "There is nothing more American than our public lands."
Walker urged all park visitors to observe the principles of Leave No Trace to help support park workers and to take action by contacting their congressional representatives to reverse the cuts.
"You will be hard-pressed to find a group of workers more passionate, heroic, & undervalued than our rangers."
Recent weeks have seen the Trump administration initiate a widespread hiring freeze that has raised concerns about National Parks facing overflowing trash, uncleaned bathrooms and fewer rangers, as has been seen in the past during government shutdowns.
Yosemite ordinarily welcomes more than three million visitors each year, but has been plagued by uncertainty since having to halt its reservations system earlier this month after the Trump administration failed to sign off on it.
Multiple park service staff such as firefighters, EMTs and Yosemite's sole locksmith had their positions terminated last week, while thousands of new employees’ job offers have been rescinded.
On Saturday, the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks publicly responded to an email that was sent to federal employees demanding they detail their accomplishments for the week to keep their jobs, saying the current administration is causing "unnecessary chaos."
"Federal employees are held accountable for their work through an established and pre-existing chain of command, with supervisors who understand the needs and priorities of specific positions. This mandate is so ridiculous it’s hard to formulate a response. Those in power seem to have forgotten the law and their human decency.”
If you are planning a visit to a US National Park right now, you should expect lower numbers of staff than normal so it's more important than ever that you make a plan to pack out all trash. For longer hikes and adventures in the backcountry, consider bringing a PACT Outdoors bathroom kit to cut down on your impact.
Advnture has contacted Yosemite National Park for a comment on this story.
Why are National Parks important?
The primary purpose of National Parks is the preservation of the natural environment for the benefit, education and enjoyment of others. In the US, these parks protect areas of natural beauty including the plants and wildlife that live there, and provide access, recreational opportunities and educational programs for people to learn about these natural habitats.
National Parks serve a vital role in maintaining ecological biodiversity by banning industrial interference and development and maintaining a recreational infrastructure that keeps crowds limited to certain areas. They preserve historical and cultural sites as well as natural features.
They also serve a vital economic role, ordinarily providing some 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs within the parks system, including biologists, engineers, historians, law enforcement officers and curators to support the approximately 318 million visitors every year. You can learn more in our article on the importance of National Parks.
