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America's national parks, and with them its heritage, are under dire threat from Donald Trump's cuts

Yellowstone is just one of hundreds of parks overseen by the National Park Service - Radius Images
Yellowstone is just one of hundreds of parks overseen by the National Park Service - Radius Images

I have a confession, I am a huge fan of America’s National Park Service. The service once flattered my vanity when it shortlisted a photograph I took at a former mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, for a competition it was running. Everyone else on the shortlist was American, so I was representing the rest of the world. My affection has been undimmed ever since.

In many ways, the service, which dates back to the mid-19th century, epitomises the best of the United States.

Many Americans are a touch defensive about their history when they meet a Brit. Often the opening gambit is something on the lines of “this place is old, but it can’t compare with what you folk have in the UK.” That is, of course, true, but they are doing their own country a disservice and ignoring the astonishing effort the United States puts into preserving its heritage with much of the work being done by the National Park Service.

Intricate shadows form under a metal walkway - Credit: David Millward
The shortlisted photograph taken by the author Credit: David Millward

The service looks after 409 parks, 23 national scenic and historic trails and scores of rivers. It also takes care of some of the country’s most iconic monuments such as the Statue Of Liberty, the National Mall in Washington DC, and Mount Rushmore. The sight of park rangers in their olive green and grey uniforms and has always been reassuring and their visitor centres informative.

Unfortunately, much of Service’s work is under threat thanks to Donald Trump’s “guns and no butter” budget and the federal hiring freeze. 

In Philadelphia, some of the most important sites in American history have been closed in the Independence National Park for the winter. They include Declaration House, where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and exhibits at Benjamin Franklin’s home and print shop. Although officially the Service says these are routine winter closures, union officials say they are unprecedented and part of a worrying pattern as the cutbacks bite across the country.

The freeze is coming at a time when visitor numbers are soaring. Last year the Service welcomed 330 million visitors, an eight per cent rise on 2015. Throw in the 12 per cent cut proposed for the Department of the Interior, which is responsible for the Service, and things are looking rather bleak.

In some cases the cuts could put people at risk. At the aptly named Death Valley in California, park rangers duties include search and rescue. In January rangers rescued a 27-year old woman who was stranded in the park overnight after her car broke down in the snow. In the summer the soaring temperatures are not to be messed with and the presence of NPS staff is essential in an area where mobile phone reception can be on the patchy side.

Already key maintenance is not being done and the fabric of the country’s parks is under threat as a result.

The service’s land acquisition budget, which enables it to buy land within the parks, is also in jeopardy. It is this cash which has prevented some of America’s most beautiful places being despoiled by housing estates or the building of trophy mansions. There are also fears that some of the environmental initiatives which protect the country’s wildlife may come under the axe. Programmes under threat include work cleaning up Chesapeake Bay and the Everglades National Park.

The one grain of comfort is that there does appear to be bipartisan support for protecting America’s heritage. Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, has also spoken of wanting to build on the conservation legacy of Theodore Roosevelt.

Towards the end of the campaign, I saw Donald Trump tell an audience in New Hampshire he believed in clean water and clean air. So perhaps not all is lost.

As a candidate, Mr Trump promised to make America great again. A good start would be to protect what made America great in the first place.

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