Hundreds of people gathered at the corner of Park Boulevard and Highway 62 on Saturday morning to protest the mass terminations that have hit the National Park Service and Department of the Interior over Valentine’s Day weekend. Six probationary rangers were part of the first round of terminations here in Joshua Tree National Park, with the spectre of more terminations hanging over the remaining rangers at the national park as it enters into spring, typically the busiest season for the popular National Park.
The National Park Service says it plans to hire seasonal workers – however, Elon Musk’s Office of Personnel Management has sent a second email to federal workers asking for a list of 5 things they have done each week. This time the email didn’t have a threat of termination via resignation if workers don’t respond – a threat that ultimately turned out to be an empty one.
This time, the email states that replying with the five things each employee has done each week will become a new requirement moving forward.
The protest moved inside Joshua Tree National Park around 12:00 noon where a group demonstrated at Cap Rock – a popular destination inside the park. An upside down American Flag was hung at intersection rock as well as near the entrance to the park. An inverted American Flag is typically seen as a symbol of distress – either for a small group of people or representing the country as a whole.
Despite some calls on social media for counter-protests, there wasn’t obvious evidence of a large enough group of people providing an alternative message to the demonstration’s chants of “save our parks.”
