Nature lovers flock to Yosemite National Park every February to witness the majestic "firefall" event, but this year’s crowds were met a different spectacle: an upside-down American flag hung on a summit to protest the Trump administration’s cuts of national park service employees.
The flag was hung on the top of the famed El Capitan summit, a 3,000-foot vertical rock formation in Mariposa County, California, on Saturday evening by a group of upset Yosemite employees.
An upside-down American flag is traditionally a sign of “dire distress,” according to the United States Flag Code.
The demonstration came at a time when all eyes are on the summit for the firefall viewing event — a phenomenon that unfolds in February when Horsetail Falls, a seasonal waterfall on the east side of El Capitan, takes on an orange, lava-like glow as the sun sets. The event attracts a flurry of photographers who wait hours for the perfect shot.
“We’re bringing attention to what’s happening to the parks, which are every American’s properties,” Gavin Carpenter, a maintenance mechanic at the park who supplied the flag, told The San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s super important we take care of them, and we’re losing people here, and it’s not sustainable if we want to keep the parks open.”
The Trump administration cut 1,000 jobs at the National Park Service earlier this month in a push to cut federal bureaucracy and spending. Impacted national park and forest employees say fewer workers will lead to longer lines, filthy bathrooms and unsafe hiking and camping conditions at America's precious public lands. For many, the job already paid a low salary, compensated by breathtaking views and sunsets.
Photographer Brittany Colt snapped the view of the upside-down flag next to the firefall.
“This hit so close to home for me. I witnessed several of my friends lose their jobs overnight while leaving our public lands vulnerable. These people had very valuable jobs, such as Search and Rescue and keeping the restrooms and park clean for visitors. If we lose the public servants, the park experience will get only harder and potentially more dangerous for visitors,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
Alex Wild, a former Yosemite and the only certified EMT ranger at Devils Postpile National Monument in California, told NBC’s Morgan Chesky last week: “I’m the only person available to rescue someone, to do CPR, to carry them out from a trail if they got injured.”
He said without him, people will likely wait hours for local first responders to arrive. “It could mean life or death for someone who’s having an emergency,” Wild said.
The Trump administration later said it would restore at least 50 jobs to maintain and clean parks, and would hire nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers following backlash over the cuts, The Associated Press reported.
