Thousands of people gathered at national park sites this last weekend to protest recent firings and advocate for public land protections.
A group of over 730 off-duty park rangers who call themselves the Resistance Rangers coordinated the efforts. A spreadsheet with information on the protests was shared around social media in the days leading up to March 1.
The group protested the firing of 1,000 National Park Service employees and 3,400 Forest Service employees. They also protested the current efforts to revoke restrictions and review federal lands for resource extraction under the “Unleashing American Energy” executive order.
According to a press advisory from the group, they aimed for “to support 433 protests across 433 national park sites in one day.” At the end of the day on March 1, they reported on their Instagram account that over 12,000 protestors turned out at 170+ park sites.
While some sites — such as Yosemite, Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon — amassed hundreds of protestors, there were 16 sites that only had a single protestor. The Resistance Ranger page paid tribute to the individual protestors on their page.
Protests at the parks
Protestors have been trying to amplify their message across social media and through coordinated efforts to petition Congress.
At Yosemite and Olympic National Parks, protestors placed signs in front of park webcams. A sign placed in front of the Yosemite High Sierra webcam read, ““Stand Up! 4 Public Land + the People Who Protect It.” And a sign reading “Olympic National Park Not For Sale” was seen from the Lake Crescent webcam.
At Rocky Mountain National Park, a 97-year-old woman was among hundreds of protestors. Dorothy Gibbs might have been the oldest person at the protest, and held a sign reading, “97-years-old and still fighting for public lands.”
Gibbs had volunteered at Rocky Mountain NP for 22 years, and simply told 9News, “It’s personal.”
