Dear John,

Our National Parks are more than landscapes -- they are America’s crown jewels, treasures passed down for generations, meant to belong to all of us. They give families clean air and water, places to connect with nature, and a legacy of stewardship to hand to our children. But the Trump administration is determined to strip these jewels from the people and deliver them into the hands of private corporations.

In just the first months of 2025, Trump has unleashed a relentless wave of assaults on the system designed to protect our shared natural heritage. Executive Orders have opened “Federal Lands and waters” to oil drilling and energy exploration, while calling for aggressive expansion of timber production on Forest Service and BLM lands. Each action tears another piece from the fabric of the National Parks System -- not for public benefit, but to enrich private industry.

Already this year, Trump and his allies have:

• Fired thousands of rangers, docents, and search and rescue staff

• Closed two National Monuments

• Shuttered 34 National Park Services sites, including visitor centers and museums

• Overridden the Endangered Species Act to permit destructive logging

• Sought to build new public housing on National Park lands -- even as they clawed back over $60 million from affordable housing programs elsewhere

• Ordered the Department of the Interior to “prioritize” mining and mineral extraction as the primary land use for all public lands with mineral resources
  

In celebration of National Public Lands Month, send a message to Congress urging them to protect our public lands from further deregulation, funding and personnel cuts, and being sold off to private developers.

The most chilling step yet is Trump’s Executive Order, “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” In it, he hands himself sweeping “emergency powers” to fast-track financing for private mining projects on public land, even raiding Small Business and public assistance funding to bankroll them.

And in a staggering conflation of powers, Trump moved oversight of the National Parks’ mineral resources from the Department of the Interior, and handed it directly to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth -- thereby giving the Pentagon authority to greenlight mining operations inside our National Parks. With this kind of oversight, how long till the Grand Canyon becomes the Grand Limestone Quarry?

Trump tries to cloak this plunder in the language of preservation. In one speech, he promised every American child access to “pristine outdoor spaces,” before completely bungling the name of Yosemite: “Yo, Semites… Yo Sem-ites?” That slip revealed more than ignorance -- it revealed indifference. Because the truth is, these policies are not about giving children access to nature. They’re about giving corporations access to mine, drill, and extract profits.

The damage being done now could be irreversible. Once these lands are scarred, once protections are dismantled, there is no going back. That’s why Congress must act immediately to block deregulation, stop the funding cuts, and defend our public lands from being carved up for corporate gain.

Tell Congress: Protect our National Parks from being plundered. Keep our public lands in public hands.

Thank you for standing up to defend the crown jewels of America -- for us, and for every generation yet to come.

- DFA AF Team