On March 22, more than 300 people gathered in Valley Forge National Historical Park to bring attention to the nationwide layoffs of National Park Service employees and to advocate for the protection of public lands. The layoffs fueled protests in national parks across the nation and united individuals to peacefully speak out for change.
“It’s nice to get together with everyone and fight for a cause,” freshman and protest attendee Maddie Schmaus said. “There’s a lot of separation right now, so the issue of the parks was a good way to bring people together.”
The organization Resistance Rangers, a community of off-duty National Park Service employees, coordinated the nationwide protests. They began the movement to speak out against the ranger layoffs. A press release by the Center for Biological Diversity stated that the Trump administration fired about 1,000 National Park Service employees on Feb. 14. as a part of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to reduce the federal workforce.
The protestors at Valley Forge National Historical Park marched through the park, holding signs and chanting messages of dissent and calls to action. Chester County residents Aria Middleman and Jaimie Bandur led the protest.
“They (Resistance Rangers) rely on people, on avid nature lovers like myself, wanting to get involved. I organized the rally on their behalf,” Middleman said. “With the conflict of interest of the rangers wanting to stand up for the lands and get involved, they never know when speaking out about something like this could ultimately endanger their job security as well.”
The protest encouraged members of the public to express their concern on what is happening to the parks to local and state representatives. In addition, attendees signed petitions to protect public lands and shared the history of Valley Forge National Historical Park.
“It (our goal) is to educate people as to how best they can get involved as to current events regarding our public lands,” Middleman said. “What changed a couple days before the rally was that all of these rangers were offered their jobs back. That’s a fantastic win, of which we did address on the day.”
The Resistance Rangers are also working to protect public lands amid proposed federal changes. The National Resources Defense Council stated that the federal administration hopes to expand oil and gas mining on public lands by ending current protections requiring federal agencies to assess the environmental impacts of their actions before proceeding.
“A lot of people chose to show up that day (March 22) to support public lands greater than just national parks,” Middleman said. “Through all of the negativity within the news, keeping oneself well-rounded and educated as to the current events is a very good thing, as long as you’re aware of what’s going on. Ignorance is what will contribute to lack of action and lack of anything happening in a positive direction.”
Tvisha Jani can be reached at [email protected].
