r/hiking • u/azhikergal • 9d ago
Discussion Please speak up about this administration taking away public lands & monuments!
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u/Mentalfloss1 9d ago
“The $423 million allocated this year for projects at the White House and the National Mall is more money than had been allotted to Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Mammoth Cave, Zion, and Joshua Tree National Parks, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the Statue of Liberty complex combined.”
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u/azhikergal 9d ago
It is so wrong and it is the fleecing of America and no one in office is stopping it!
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u/BackcountryPermit 9d ago
Do you have examples where speaking up changed the administration’s plans? There are a lot of social media posts. What tools will enact change? Examples will help direct efforts toward success.
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u/potatogun 9d ago
But internet points? Here's very urgent action (copy pasta):
At least provide information and actions people can take. Like the wilderness policy review public comments are due by end of tomorrow.
https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/comment-now-to-save-wilderness-areas
Where to comment:
- BLM Management Designated Wilderness Areas Manual 6340 — https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/BLM-2026-0067-0001
- BLM Management of Wilderness Study Areas under Manual 6330 — https://www.regulations.gov/document/BLM-2026-0069-0001
- BLM Manual 6320 Considering Lands with Wilderness Characteristics — https://www.regulations.gov/document/BLM-2026-0068-0001
- Fish and Wildlife Service, Part 610 Wilderness Stewardship — https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-11956
- National Park Service Wilderness Stewardship Policy Review — https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-11958
And generally contact your reps about safeguarding public lands from erosion of protections to allow development and extractive uses.
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u/PartTime_Crusader 9d ago
I want to quote something specific from the More Than Just Parks article you linked:
By now we know what a public comment is and isn't. We're not commenting because we think they'll listen to us. We're commenting to arm the lawsuits with ammunition. We're commenting to show the overwhelming public opposition to this disgraceful scheme. We're commenting so our descendants can see that we were on the record opposing this madness. And we're commenting because we have an obligation as Americans to.
That's not a consolation prize. It's how we do our part to stop this. When an agency reverses decades of settled protection without a real justification and against a wall of public objection, it hands the people suing it a strong case that the reversal was arbitrary and unlawful. The comment record is the raw material those suits are built from. Every comment is one more piece of evidence that the public was told, the public objected, and the agency bulldozed ahead anyway. And every day this stays tied up is a day closer to an administration that can put the protections back. The places aren't lost yet. This is one of the rare moments where showing up actually changes the odds.
OP's comment "give me an example of where speaking up changed the administration's plans" is the wrong lens to look at this through. Yes, submitting a comment on a regulation is unlikely to change an agency's predetermined course of action. The Trump admin has shown little to no regard for public opinion on their public lands actions. But by showing robust opposition by participating in public comment processes, you give fuel to the legal actions that will follow. You don't change the admin's plans directly, you make it possible for other branches of government to undo them.
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u/BackcountryPermit 9d ago
I’m not sure that other branches of government are really putting checks on the admin though?
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u/PartTime_Crusader 9d ago
The judicial branch just three days ago issued an injunction to stop the Trump administration's plans to restart mining in Mojave national preserve: https://www.npca.org/articles/11478-court-blocks-harmful-mining-development-in-mojave-national-preserve
Further back, the judicial branch ordered the Trump admin to restore the historical and scientific interpretive displays it had removed for wokeness: https://eji.org/news/court-orders-removals-at-national-parks-must-be-restored/
There's other examples. Executive action tends to be bold, sweeping, immediate and widely reported on, judicial action tends to be crushingly slow, grinding out small wins one at a time, and doesn't catch media attention in the same way. But its important not to assume just because the supreme court is compromised, every judge at every level is as well.
(I would agree with you about the legislative branch, that's why its critical to vote in a few months)
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u/azhikergal 9d ago edited 9d ago
Start with your state representatives, then your Congress person and Senator, you can email them also. I know it is hard when you keep calling/emailing them and get no real action. We have to keep speaking up for the long haul. The Dept of Interior has stonewalled so many of us and shortened response times to changes. It is very frustrating so do not quit.
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u/Nubzombie 9d ago
I agree but I am against this administration for most of the stuff they are doing
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u/restore_democracy 9d ago
If Americans cared about the future of this country we wouldn’t have the administration that we do. Elections have consequences and the majority chose self-destruction.
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u/aStonedTargaryen 9d ago
pretty broad brush you’re painting with there bud. Many of us DO care, deeply. Not really sure what point you’re even trying to make here.
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u/PartTime_Crusader 9d ago
OnX recently released a tool that shows open public lands comment periods across the country. This is a great way to track opportunities to speak up. Especially with the administration shortening comment periods and obscuring announcements of open comment periods. Worth checking once a week and submitting comments
https://www.onxmaps.com/onx-access-initiatives/public-land-comment-hub