Leaders of our local grassroots group, “We the People of South-Central Kansas,” challenged us to write letters for the local newspaper about things that have angered us. There are so many! This is one.

Are you angry yet?

Our current president apparently thinks every public area of our country belongs to him. If you disagree, you are a traitor.

Now, he’s trying to sell our National Parks to benefit his corporate sponsors and buddies. In the latest grift, he plans to sell part of Yosemite National Park to a real estate developer for privatization.

Our National Park Service was born August 25, 1916 under Woodrow Wilson’s leadership, “to provide for the enjoyment of the scenery, natural and historic objects, and the wildlife therein . . . in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Yet what has happened under Trump’s watch? Border wall bulldozers wait for the end of September to crash through Big Bend National Park in Texas. Right now, they decimate iconic Organic Pipe cacti in Arizona’s National Monument.

Trump slashed 91% of the acreage designated in Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments—3 million acres—to open the area for oil and gas, coal and uranium exploration.

Under DOGE, he cut 5860 US Forest Service employees, leaving our forests vulnerable to wildfires. This year he intends to repeal the Roadless Rule, which has protected 59 million acres of our last pristine wild acres for decades.

Federal law requires 80% of park visitor fees to stay at the Park where they were collected in order to fund routine upkeep and maintenance. However, this year, Trump diverted $90 million of those fees to projects he wanted in Washington DC. That is a 1,575% increase from previous years funding for public areas in the nation’s capital. ($4.3 million typical allotment to $101.9 million in 2026.)

What DC projects did he have in mind? The reflecting pool, gold plated statues, helipad at the White House, a ballroom, Kennedy Center, and now the arch which will dwarf other memorials in NPS Area 1. Construction of Trump’s arch to memorialize himself is set to begin within days.

The National Parks do not belong to the president. They belong to the American people. Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support our parks. We want them protected, staffed and accessible for future generations.

“There is nothing so American as our National Parks.” Theodore Roosevelt

“Parks and Reserves ensure future generations may know the majesty of the earth.” JFK

It is maddening that Trump treats our National Treasures as if they all belong to him personally. But there’s still time to protest the sale of Yosemite. Sign Sierra Club’s petition. Share with your family and friends. And the Forest Service is accepting comments on the elimination of the Roadless Rule through 9/21/2026.

Let your voice be heard.