Protect What’s Ours: Our Public Lands Are Under Attack

 

Theodore Roosevelt left us “We The People” one of America’s greatest legacies: our public lands. These include National Parks, National Forests, Wildlife Refuges, and BLM-managed lands—a shared treasure that belongs to every American.

These lands don’t just provide awe-inspiring beauty and outdoor adventure—they’re an economic powerhouse. Public lands generate $51 billion annually and support over 650,000 jobs. The outdoor industry they support contributes $1.2 trillion to the economy—2.3% of the U.S. GDP—and sustains 5 million American jobs, including mine.

But today, that legacy is in jeopardy.

On May 7, 2025, the Department of the Interior slashed $1.2 billion from the National Parks budget, eliminating 3,400 NP jobs. If you’ve visited a national park, you know how vital maintenance and staffing are—not just to preserve the experience for us, but to protect these ecosystems for generations to come. These cuts will have devastating impacts on the land, the wildlife, and the people who care for them.

-Something we will never get back-

And it gets worse.

A bill is currently bouncing between the House and Senate that would allow the sale of OUR public lands—yours, mine, and every American’s—to the highest bidders, primarily oil and mining companies. These same industries are also benefiting from weakened regulations, leading to higher profits and giving them more freedom to pollute our air and water. All while the rest of us 99%ers have our treasured land stripped away.

Would you want to camp in Colorado at $80 a night? Would you want to fish a Montana stream contaminated by a mine for $200/day on private land? Would you want to visit Yellowstone if they charged triple the entrance fee and it was filled with apartments instead of wildlife? Would you want to drink water like in Flint, Michigan? Breathe air like in Beijing?
Neither do we.

It’s time to take a stand.

👉 Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and tell your representatives to VOTE NO on selling public lands.
👉 Then ask to speak with Senator Mike Lee of Utah—he's leading this assault on our natural heritage.

One last thing: Did you know there’s actually an Anti-Park Caucus in Congress? That’s right—20 elected officials actively working against our national parks. Who could be anti-park? Only those who value profits over people and nature.

If you care about hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, wildlife, or simply breathing clean air, now is the time to act. Call. Vote. Speak out.

Let’s protect what’s ours.

Have a great day—and don’t forget to take a breath of fresh air while we still can.

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Forward this to every outdoor enthusiast you know. And if you make those calls, hit reply and let me know.