Hundreds Protest Firings at Joshua Tree National Park, March 1, 2025
Distress flag unfurled at Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Park
In protests held at the corners of Park Boulevard and Highway 62 in Joshua Tree on Saturday morning and at Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR) in the afternoon, several hundred protesters chanted, sang, and waved their signs as passersby honked and cheered. Children and dogs joined in, and it would have seemed like a celebration if the cause hadn’t been so serious.
Video by Kat Talley-Jones.
Protests in support of public lands and the civil servants who protect them took place today at more than 145 national park units—from the Alaska Public Lands Information Center in Anchorage to Gulf Islands National Shore in Florida, from Mount Rainier National Park in Washington to Acadia National Park in Maine, from Halekalā National Park on Maui to the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Locals protested firings of a half-dozen JOTR staff as well as 1,000 National Park Service, 3,400 Forest Service, 370 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and 800 Bureau of Land Management employees, who were wrongfully terminated by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE team.
Those who have lost their jobs include rangers, scientists, wildland firefighters, first responders, trail crews, maintenance crews, and other mission critical staff. DOGE has signaled that more large-scale terminations are planned.
People who live and work here brought attention to this attack on public lands to visitors who might not be as tuned into this topic as those who live in gateway communities to one of the ten most-visited parks in the United States.
Miranda, who held a sign that said, “Public Lands Are Not 4 Sale,” moved to Landers during the pandemic. She showed up at the protest in the town of Joshua Tree and said:
JTree is where I go to renew my spirit. I like to sit in the rocks and think and draw. I walk the Hidden Valley trail nearly every week and love how I see people having a great time and who seem to have come here from everywhere! Rangers are the best people and work so hard; if they can be fired—who is safe?
Nick Graver, community activist, asked people attending the protest to draw silver stars on a black sheet of construction paper. He estimated that 300 people attended the morning’s protest and 150 at Cap Rock in the park.
Video by Kat Talley-Jones.
The protests shifted to inside the park on Saturday afternoon, where protesters gathered at Cap Rock at the junction of Park Boulevard and Keys View Road. Many had staff and volunteer connections to the park and organizations that support it and its mission. These include members of tribal nations connected with the park, Friends of Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave Desert Land Trust, the Mojave Basin Conservation Association, the Desert Institute, and the Joshua Tree National Park Association.
After a land acknowledgment, chants focused on keeping public lands in public hands; a favorite was, “parks aren’t toys for billionaire boys.” The event highlighted President Trump’s order that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright work to “Unleash American Energy” by revoking restrictions and reviewing federal lands for resource extraction. A park handout noted: “All federal lands are at risk including the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and other public lands.”
Participants watched as climbers unfurled an American flag upside down in distress and struggled to anchor it in a stiff west wind—and everyone cheered when they finally had the flag secured.
The protests here and in parks across the country were organized by Resistance Rangers, a group of 700+ off-duty park rangers, including National Park Service staff illegally fired on February 14, and seasonal rangers whose jobs were rescinded.
Local organizer Anna, a member of the Resistance Rangers, said that it was important that the protest take place in the parks “to show what’s happening in the resource” that’s in peril from the administrations threatened actions and to inspire people to take action.
Many of us showed up at last week’s Community Coffee with Representative Jay Obernolte—it is worthwhile to continue to contact his office in Washington, DC, at (202) 225-5861 or in Hesperia at (760) 247-1815 and tell him you support your local park and federal employees. And share your love for our national parks; talk to your friends, neighbors, and families about why they are important to you, to the community, and to the nation.
Climbers anchor and unfurl the American flag of distress at Cap Rock. Video by Cindy Bernard.
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Once again, thank you for your excellent coverage.
Thanks for this. We need our parks and the people who run them. It is so important for this country to see that.