An American flag that’s displayed upside-down is thought to be an indication of dire misery.
Staff at Yosemite Nationwide Park in California unfurled a big, upside-down U.S. flag at a preferred summit within the park on Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s firing of round 1,000 Nationwide Park Service (NPS) staff final week.
The inverted flag — generally recognized to be a symbol of “dire distress” — was held on a 3,000-foot tall summit known as El Capitan. The protest was timed to succeed in the utmost variety of onlookers: Every February, 1000’s of holiday makers journey to the summit to witness a natural phenomenon known as the “firefall” — when the angle of the setting solar causes the waterfall on the cliff of the summit to resemble glowing orange lava.
“We’re bringing consideration to what’s occurring to the parks, that are each American’s properties,” said Gavin Carpenter, a upkeep mechanic at Yosemite who spoke to The San Francisco Chronicle in regards to the protest. “It’s tremendous necessary we maintain them, and we’re shedding folks right here, and it’s not sustainable if we wish to preserve the parks open.”
Not less than a dozen Yosemite staff have been terminated within the mass firings. Amongst them was Olek Chmura, a former custodian who left his residence in Ohio final 12 months to work on the park in California.
In accordance with Chmura, he and one other worker who was fired have been the one two employees doing cleanup in a single part of Yosemite. With out them, Chmura worries that trash will pile up, endangering the park’s wildlife.
“You’d be amazed with what number of diapers I choose up off the facet of the street. Beer bottles, rest room paper, all of the stuff so that you don’t should see. You get to see the park in its true pure magnificence,” Chmura told The Associated Press.
“Our nationwide monuments and parks are simply our best treasure, and it simply ruined my dream, you already know?” Chmura added, talking about his personal termination.
Andria Townsend, one other employee who was fired, had been employed at Yosemite since 2023 however was relisted as a “probationary worker” when she took a promotion final 12 months, making her eligible for termination. Like Chmura, Townsend additionally worries in regards to the penalties of the mass firings.
“What does this imply for the state of nationwide parks? What does this imply for wildlife conservation? It’s actually scary. It’s a very unsure time for these of us who care about conservation and public lands, so I’m undoubtedly fearful for the long run,” Townsend said.
The firings additionally resulted within the downsizing of a few of Yosemite’s search and rescue groups, sparking safety concerns for some of the park’s visitors.
More than 325 million people visited U.S. national parks in 2023, in line with figures collected by NPS. Yosemite was the sixth-most traveled to park within the NPS system, with practically 4 million guests in 2023 alone.
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