1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I am writing to you today as a deeply concerned constituent to urge your immediate intervention to stop the destructive bulldozing occurring within Big Bend National Park. Furthermore, I ask that you take strong legislative action to protect other vulnerable federal lands, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, from similar degradation. What we are witnessing is a coordinated onslaught against our public commons. These lands are meant to be held in trust for all citizens, managed transparently, and preserved for future generations, just as previous generations faithfully passed them down to us. Instead, we see public land being treated as disposable assets. I am especially alarmed by the political determination of figures like Senator Mike Lee, who actively seek to carve up and sell off these protected territories under the guise of state control or development. Furthermore, federal agencies and political actors are intentionally bypassing the public comment periods that allow American citizens to have a voice in what happens to their public lands. By exploiting sweeping legal waivers and fast-track mechanisms to do whatever they want on federal land, they are completely shutting out local communities, conservationists, and the public. National parks and monuments are meant to be preserved, not subjected to irreversible destruction or privatization without public scrutiny or accountability. As my representative in Congress, you hold the power of the purse and the authority to pass legislation that reinstates oversight. I urge you to: • Support legislation that restricts or repeals federal waiver authorities used to bypass environmental laws and public transparency. • Strongly oppose any legislative efforts or land-transfer schemes aimed at carving up, transferring, or selling off our national monuments and public commons. • Deny or redirect federal funding away from projects that refuse to comply with standard environmental reviews and public transparency. Our public lands belong to all Americans, and the process for managing them must remain transparent, democratic, and focused on long-term conservation. Please stand up for Big Bend, Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, all other public lands, and the rule of law.