‘Spread the word! Spread it like fire’: Worrying evidence suggests Trump is trying to eliminate multiple national parks and monuments

Donald Trump made no attempt to hide the fact that he would utilize the public lands in the U.S. in his quest to “Make America Great Again.” His “drill, baby, drill” agenda saw widespread excitement at the prospect of America producing more oil and gas, but that comes at a cost, and the cost is national parks and monuments, it seems.

A Reddit user who claims to be a liaison for 50501, a political grassroots movement which aims to organize a massive protest across 50 states, has claimed to have received information from a “reliable inside source,” that indicates the Trump administration is looking to eliminate national parks and monuments. Why would he do this you ask? Money, of course!

National parks could be exploited for resources

The info shared by the supposed source came from meetings with the Secretary of the Interior’s staff, which revealed that a plethora of new projects were set to be put into motion in a number of national parks. Among those mentioned there was a uranium mine discussed in Lake Casitas, Calan increase in oil drilling next to Sespe Condor Sanctuary, and logging in Los Padres National Forest, all in California. According to the info shared, the president is also expected to sign executive orders downsizing or even eliminating national monuments, including California’s Carrizo Plain. National Marine Sanctuaries will also be hit with two offshore sanctuaries, Channel Islands NMS and Chumash Heritage NMS, both also in California, receiving no funding this year.

We know that president doesn’t prioritize the environment, but if this is true then this is a concerted effort to see national parks, forests, and marine sanctuaries closed by the Trump administration. 

Is this really happening?

It’s difficult to verify what the Reddit user is saying, as we can’t be certain who their source is. However, it’s not hard to imagine Donald Trump putting the potential profits of opening public lands to commercial use and endangering the natural beauty of the country; he’s already signed executive orders for unregulated oil drilling.

When asked for more details regarding the source by another user, the original poster claimed that they could not provide more details “for safety reasons,” but they assured readers they would not be sharing the info if they didn’t believe it. They also claimed that they would be contacting news agencies, and that 50501 would be making a statement about the matter soon.

In the last several days, news outlets have reported on the fact that Trump is seeking to close national parks. The Washington Post reported that the president was seeking to cancel the lease for 34 national park buildings in a supposed effort to save taxpayer money. This comes after 1,000 probationary employees at national parks were fired last month, which has already caused issues in many parks across the country and caused some protests.

This partly backs up what was shared by the Reddit user, as it certainly seems like Trump is targeting national parks right now. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if any of the OP’s claims are proven true. It would be nice if this were fiction, but knowing Donald Trump, this seems on-brand.