What is the Alt National Park Service? What to know about group protesting Trump layoffs
What is the Alt National Park Service? What to know about group protesting Trump layoffs
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Yosemite staff protest Pres. Trump's firings with upside-down flag
Yosemite National Park staff hung an upside-down U.S. flag on El Capitan summit to protest staff firings at the park by the Trump administration.
The Alt National Park Service is a self-described "resistance" team, dedicated to protecting the National Park Service.
The Alt National Park Service was established in 2017, after Trump ordered the real National Park Service to stop using its social media because it re-shared posts about him.
According to a Facebook post made by the coalition, more than 160,000 people make up the Alt National Park Service.
The National Park Service is the latest federal agency targeted by layoffs from President Donald Trump' administration, and park advocates wish to make their frustrations heard.
One of several activist organizations, the Alt National Park Service has been vocal about Trump's handling of the federal agency since he first took office eight years ago. The coalition has previously taken to social media to discuss the latest news involving the National Park Service.
Most recently, the Alt National Park Service shared a photo on Facebook of the upside-down American flag hung at Yosemite National Park's El Capitan summit on Tuesday morning. The demonstration came after roughly 1,000 National Park Service employees were laid off on Feb. 14.
Though the coalition shared the photo of the flag on social media, it had not confirmed its involvement with the incident as of Wednesday afternoon.
"We can't say much more about this right now," the coalition said on Facebook. "Apologies if we're sometimes unusually quiet − everything happens for a reason."
The Alt National Park Service did not immediately respond when contacted by USA TODAY on Wednesday afternoon.
Here's what to know about the Alt National Park Service.
What is the Alt National Park Service?
Self-described at the "resistance" team of the National Park Service, the Alt National Park Service is an activist coalition dedicated to protecting and promoting U.S. parks.
Is the Alt National Park Service a federal agency?
No, the Alt National Park Service is not a legitimate federal agency. It is an activist group.
When was the Alt National Park Service established?
The Alt National Park Service was established in January 2017, shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn into office the first time, according to the coalition's website. The coalition was created, in part, as a response to restrictions placed on the official National Park Service social media accounts.
In 2017, the Department of Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, ordered the NPS to shut down its X account (then, Twitter) after two controversial posts were re-shared on the official government agency account. One of the posts was about Trump's inauguration and the other was about the disappearance of White House webpages, according to previous USA TODAY reporting. The re-posts were swiftly deleted.
In response, several unofficial accounts that parodied the National Park Service sprung up, including the Alt National Park Service. The accounts "aimed to communicate scientific facts, environmental concerns and information about climate change that they felt were being suppressed or underemphasized by the official channels," according to the coalition's website.
After some time, the National Park Service was allowed to resume using its X account.
Who makes up the Alt National Park Service?
The Alt National Park Service does not publicly disclose its members, but according to a Facebook post made by the coalition on Tuesday, more than 160,000 people are members.
Nearly 3 million people had "liked" the Alt National Park Service Facebook Page, as of Wednesday.
Contributing: Eve Chen and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
37 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Surprising Trump-Musk rift worsens a huge Tesla problem
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump appear to be in the kind of chaotic relationship that social media lives to warn you about. First the two seemed to be enjoying a business alliance-turned-bromance when Musk was invited to become a special government employee in January and spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The pair cheerily appeared together in photographs as well as in the Oval Office, and they seemed to be harmoniously working together. Musk even donned a red baseball cap that read "Trump was right about everything," which sent a pretty clear statement about the billionaire's beliefs. Related: Elon Musk latest message sends Tesla stock surging Of course, things can change. And when Tesla's (TSLA) sales plummeted 71% as reported during its first quarter earnings call, Musk's tune began to do just that. The Tesla CEO said he would refocus on the EV business, and not long after, he announced he would be stepping away from DOGE entirely. Soon after that shift, Musk suddenly started to take shots at Trump's "big beautiful bill" on X, first disagreeing with it and then seemingly escalating the issue to an all-out war against the president. Now the two have been trading barbs and threats alike, and while it looks like they're having some sort of weird breakup spat that's bristling with resentment, the whole thing is having a bad effect on a situation that Musk promised he would work to repair. Image source: STR/AFP via Getty Images Tesla's reputation has taken a beating this year. Musk's involvement with President Trump and the government rubbed many the wrong way, leading the stock to tank in mid-March when Musk was heads down on the DOGE project. What followed was a rash of people either demonstrating outside Tesla dealerships, vandalizing them, or both. Tesla owners, uncomfortable at being yelled at on the streets, started to offload their cars. Related: Forget tariffs, automakers face an even bigger threat from China Meanwhile, Tesla sales are dropping fast in key markets such as Europe and California. "Tesla's sales in Europe dropped 49% year-over-year in April to 7,261 vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Meanwhile, total EV sales in the region rose 34%. So far, Tesla's Europe unit volume is down nearly 40% through the first four months of this year," TheStreet's Todd Campbell reports. Musk's public spat with Trump, including posting the whole thing on social media rather than having private conversations with the president, comes off as attention-seeking and inappropriate for a person of his status. And while the president has responded more or less in kind, it's really Tesla that will suffer further, as Trump is known for his outbursts, and they don't stand out that much from his regular behavior. Tesla, however, had already been beaten down by Musk's involvement with the GOP. While Musk is clearly trying to separate himself from Trump with these moves, the way he's handling them reflects poorly on his plans to reinvigorate the EV brand. It's exactly the move Tesla didn't need at this moment. Trump, in the meantime, has decided he has bigger things to focus on, telling CNN today, "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem." Related: Analyst says Tesla faces one big beautiful hit from Trump bill The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Haven't given up': minister seeks tariff breakthrough
Australia's trade minister remains confident tariffs imposed by the US will be removed, ahead of a likely meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump. The two leaders could meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada next week, with the economic measures imposed by the US president around the world set to dominate discussions. As Australia looks to negotiate for an exemption on tariffs, Trade Minister Don Farrrell was optimistic a deal could be reached. "I certainly haven't given up on the prospect of getting these tariffs removed, and every opportunity I get, I'll continue to pursue that argument with the United States," he told Sky News on Sunday. "There is no justification for the United States to impose tariffs on Australia ... we want all of the tariffs removed, not just some of them." Mr Trump recently signed off on doubling tariffs on exports on steel and aluminium from 25 to 50 per cent. All other Australian exports to the US have been slapped with a 10 per cent tariff. Senator Farrell met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer last week and said he pushed the case for all of the economic measures to be removed. The minister was hopeful a similar approach that removed $20 billion worth of tariffs on Australian goods entering China could be used with America. "We didn't retaliate on that occasion, and bit by bit, we managed to get all of those tariffs that had been applied on Australia by China removed. I'd like to do the same with the United States," he said. "It's only by open discussion, honest discussion with out allies in the United States that I think we can do that." As the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Australia to increase its defence spending by billions of dollars to 3.5 per cent of GDP, Senator Farrell said the federal government had already proved its commitment through the AUKUS submarine deal. Australia is looking to up its total spent on defence to 2.3 per cent. "We are committed to the defence of this country, we are committed to a significant uplift in the amount of spending," Senator Farrell said. "(AUKUS) is going to be a project that's worth more than $360 billion, so I think we've talked the talk." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signalled on Friday negotiations on opening up access to US beef into Australia could be on the table as part of tariff negotiations. However, he said biosecurity would not be compromised in order to reach an agreement.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ormond Beach police arrest man on federal warrant for threats against Donald Trump, others
Ormond Beach police said they arrested a 25-year-old man on Thursday, June 5, on a federal warrant for making online threats against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others. Sheldon Biddle, whose last known address was in Ormond Beach, has made antisemitic statements and radical threats of violence, police said, while also expressing hostility toward law enforcement. Threats were made against Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino on an X social-media account determined by the Secret Service to be Biddle's, according to Ormond Beach police. Court records show that this was the second time Biddle had been arrested for making threats against Trump and the others. On April 11, Ormond Beach police charged him with written threats to kill or do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism. He spent two days in jail before bonding out. Records show he was jailed again on Thursday, June 5, as a fugitive from justice and was being held without bond. On April 7, one of the posts read: "If I was in DC I'd shoot you @netanyahu." On April 2, the account posted: "Trump is gonna get assassinated for being a treasonous traitor." A March 19 post read: "You're gonna eat led tyrant boy," in response to a post by Bongino. A YouTube account associated with Biddle included video titles "Joe Biden molested me" and "Shooting up the YouTube headquarters for all the censorship." Biddle has at least three previous arrests after which he pleaded no contest to charges including possession of a concealed firearm, battery (domestic violence), trespassing and resisting an officer without violence. In each case, the State Attorney's Office withheld adjudication. In 2023, he was charged with resisting arrest with violence, a felony, but the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and moved to county court, records show. "We have absolutely no tolerance for threats of violence in our city," Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey said. "No one should feel unsafe in their place of worship, neighborhood or community, and we will act swiftly to hold offenders accountable." This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ormond Beach man arrested on charges of posting threats on X
