This National Parks week, I am extremely concerned about our public lands. For those of us living in Colorado, they are essential to our economy, our mental and physical well being.
In 2024, a record 331 million people visited 400+ NPS units, an increase of 2% over the previous year.(1) The NPS is also a huge value, bringing in 55.6 Billion on a budget of $3.1 Billion.(2)
I am gravely concerned over news that the Secretary of the Interior just ceded oversight of public lands to a DOGE operative. Normally a position of this stature would need to be congressionally approved, but…it wasnt? WHY?(4,5)
The move puts DOGE in charge of not only the NPS, but the Fish and Wildlife Service, Geological Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, among others, without needing to report back to the Secretary. This is unacceptable.
We need you to be outspoken and forceful in obtaining answers for how this happened and ensuring our lands remain for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,not stolen and sold off to the wealthy or for mining.
1.https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/visitor-use-statistics-dashboard.htm
2.https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/national-parks-contributed-record-high-$55-6-billion-to-u-s-economy-supported-415-000-jobs-in-2023.htm
3.https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/24/trump-national-monument-reductions-mining-oil
4.https://westernpriorities.org/2025/04/statement-interior-secretary-doug-burgum-abdicates-formally-hands-over-power-to-doge/
5.https://open.substack.com/pub/wessiler/p/doge-just-took-over-national-parks
https://dl-rapidbot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/1/5e3d/c71a/5e3dc71a-fc72-4a23-aeae-590efd06a99a.php
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