Sierra Club: Improving Our National Parks Starts with Stewardship and Resources

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, the National Park Service launched a processseeking public input on how to improve the country's national parks.

The 30-day comment period, which officially opened September 8, is part of a secretarial order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to further Donald Trump's "Make America Beautiful Again" agenda. The comment period is seeking public input on topics including improving visitor services in parks and facilitating meaningful and enjoyable visitor experiences.

The order comes after multiple moves by the Trump administration to cut funding and staffing levels at the National Park Service, moves that could negatively affect the visitor experience at national parks. Since January 20, the administration has rescinded 479 job offers for park ranger positions, according to documentsobtained by Sierra Club through a Freedom of Information Act request. Trump's proposed budget also includes a proposed 30 percent cutin funding for the National Park Service.

In response, Gerry Seavo James, Deputy Campaign Director of Sierra Club's Outdoors For All campaign, released the following statement:

"Our national parks are the common grounds that connect our country, regardless of geography or ideology. For more than a century, millions of people have been able to connect with the landscapes that make this country great because of our national parks. This is an opportunity to make clear that future generations should be able to access and experience these treasured places, not privatized landscapes, that they have the necessary resources and staffing, not cut budgets and fired staff, and that they represent the American story of which we are all a part, not a whitewashed version."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.