The Green & Gray Retort, Volume II, Issue 1
⛺ Hey there! Remember us? It's no April Fools' joke, it's the start of a new year for the Green and Gray Retort, the official newsletter of your Resistance Rangers. In this edition, history disappears in plain sight, the podcast team reflects on the past year, and the Department launches a crackdown on its own employees. As always: come for the real stories unfolding on our public lands; stay for the adorable animals, a healthy amount of snark, and heartwarming personal anecdotes.
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Before we dive into the latest scoop and skinny within the NPS, we would be remiss not to mention and acknowledge the horrifying scenes around the country (Minnesota) and around the world.
This country has gone through turbulent times before; lest we forget we once fought a bloody war over the legality and morality of whether one person can own another. A century later, chaos similar to what we see now erupted over the lack of equality amongst races and a war many thought a mistake. As stewards of historical sites across the country and the stories they hold, we can’t help but notice parallels to past events. We have seen firsthand how ideas of “emergencies” and “national security” have been used to justify the disregard of constitutional rights. We can see how labeling people as “enemies” and “terrorists” begets genocide, mass incarceration, refusal of treaty acknowledgement, and community raids. Some good examples include Manzanar and Honouliuli, sites of Japanese internment during World War II, the notorious Civil War POW camp at Andersonville, and the forced flight of the Nez Perce, with 38 sites encompassing the national historical park that tells their story.
On the flip side, out of atrocities emerge groups and individuals standing up to make a difference for their communities: some examples include Medger & Myrlie Evers, the Pullman strikers, and the town of Nicodemus.
That being said, few, if any, times in our history have our rights as citizens and residents been at risk of being irrelevant as of right now. This writer states this not to scare you, dear reader, but to provide a rally to build up your communities; to take care of one another, to offer help to those in need, to learn relevant laws pertaining to your freedoms (especially pertaining to the 4th Amendment), and most importantly, to not lose hope. Eyes will be opened as more people are personally affected, instead of just seeing videos and commentary on the news and social media. Reach out to your loved ones, neighbors, and friends. Vent. Rebuild and strengthen bonds. Encourage them to become informed and involved while acknowledging the fear and uncertainty that authoritarians cause. Focus on love and the dignity of fellow humans. The power ultimately resides with us, the people: ordinary people creating positive change and showing love within their “spheres of influence.” We’ve seen similar stories before, after all!
🧱Paradise Lost?
In February, the Department of Homeland Security waived environmental and cultural preservation restrictions in Big Bend National Park and its surrounding areas in order to extend their border wall across the area. The backlash was swift and is still ongoing - multiple groups, from environmentalists to local sheriffs, have released statements or letters condemning the effort. At least for the moment, it may be working - plans have been revised from a physical wall to undefined “detection technology” at the border in Big Bend.
🕯️One Year Later
Valentine’s Day was an especially poignant one for the NPS community. One year ago, in the chaotic, early days of this administration, every single employee in their probationary period (mostly first year permanent staff) were fired, ostensibly for cause, in an event that has come to be known as the Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Out of the ashes of one of the most notable events in NPS history arose a group of dedicated rangers determined not to have their voices silenced by an onslaught of attacks from above. Your Resistance Rangers were born from this event, and, along with much help from people just like you, have scored wins big and small in what appears to be a drawn-out struggle to save our public lands AND the stories they hold.
🚀“Execute Order 3431”
Photo: Philadelphia InquirerThe crackdown on authentic history begins. On the week of January 19th, and under cover of headline news events occurring in Minnesota and in Europe over Greenland, the Department of the Interior started to enforce Secretarial Order 3431, an effort to stop your parks from exploring and explaining the less savory aspects of our history. The parks that the administration has deemed central to their planned “Freedom 250” event on July 4th (think National Mall, Mount Rushmore, and Independence Historical Park) are getting hit immediately - the above photo shows a sign discussing the origins and horrors of the institution of slavery in the American colonies which was just removed from Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The complete list has been compiled and is available to be viewed here.
DOI Spokesperson Elizabeth Peace released the following statement on erasing our signs and our history: “The President has directed federal agencies to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values. Following completion of the required review, the National Park Service is now taking action to remove or revise interpretive materials in accordance with the Order.” Parks, unfortunately, have been given no say in the matter. This dismantling of our story has come from the highest levels of the Interior leadership, with parks required to report material the administration deems offensive. The most high profile example of this has been at Stonewall National Monument, where the Pride Flag synonymous with the site was taken down, per a new directive to only display the United States flag at NPS sites.
We encourage our readers to pay a visit to our friends at the Data Rescue Project, whom we have been collaborating with, cataloguing and saving the contents of interpretive signs across the NPS since the current administration took office. Their work will allow us to rebuild quicker and better in a couple of years’ time to continue to provide the American people the authentic and accurate stories they deserve. If you’ve noticed a change or alteration to an NPS webpage or sign, please reach out to us so we can add it to our list!
It's not just signs being pulled down across the parks. The next time you pop into a visitor center, you may notice the orientation film not showing; it may have been pulled due to the same order. Take a look in the bookstores, too. Park partners typically run them, and they are being forced to remove books and other memorabilia from shelves and in print that do not align with the administration’s whitewashing efforts. This strains the finances of non-profit park partners that fill a vital aspect of the visitor experience that the NPS simply doesn’t have the capacity to run.
🎤On the Air!
We have 2 new episodes for you!
We have an anniversary episode showcasing lives that were permanently changed on Valentine's Day 2025, as thousands of probationary federal employees were illegally fired, including rangers in the National Park Service. This was a cruel act, ending the careers of many passionate and skilled employees before they could truly start. At RROTA, we honor and remember them by sharing their stories, and we will continue to fight for them.
We also discuss the grassroots efforts, from Save Our Signs and Avenging the Ancestors Coalition about the ongoing saga of the President’s House in Philadelphia and how we can save our signs across the country.
📰Hot Off the Press: Guardians of Heritage Series, Part 2
Hello, old friend! A couple of editions ago, we published the first in a series done by our crack Cultural Resources team that described the immense work they do in building genuine relationships with Native tribes and the impact budget cuts have on their efforts to co-steward the land and heritage with tribes.
In the second part of the series, they take a look at the short- and long-term impact of Secretary’s Order 3431. By taking you under the hood of administration’s effort to weed out what it deems as “improper ideology” in the face of a multi-decades long effort to tell authentic and accurate history by the NPS, we hope to shine a light on something that will have long-lasting impact for future generations of not just park-goers, but all Americans.
📺Propaganda of the Week
Park social media accounts have exploded in popularity in the last decade, serving as ways to entertain and educate the public who may not have the capability of visiting all the parks they would like to. Some examples are: Zion’s pop culture spoofs, Fat Bear Week in Katmai, and one ranger in particular’s incomparable dance moves out of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Well…we hate to announce some sad news here. The Department of the Interior is cracking down hard on NPS accounts, and on an internal communications call, we found out that social media publishing rights have been taken over by DOI. The same spokesperson that gave that statement regarding sign removal, one Elizabeth Peace, took a cheap shot at our beloved dancing ranger in her rationale for removing publishing powers from individual park units.
The NPS was forced to rescind the job offers for ALL seasonal Visual Information Specialist positions, who are some of the wonderful people behind our elite social media content and websites. So far, RR has confirmed that 40 positions were eliminated, including 8 at Denali and 5 at Glacier National Park. In a few cases, these positions are Winter seasonal roles as opposed to Summer; this meant that the email that revoked their job offers came days into their employment. These employees have moved to new park sites and will now be terminated days into their new role. We offer the utmost condolences to all Rangers affected by this new development, and promise that we will not forgive nor forget this latest trauma inflicted upon the people who serve the public to great effect.
🥶A Spring Thaw?
The now-infamous hiring freeze that has been in effect since the administration change is showing signs of thawing out. Officially speaking, the freeze has been over since October, but heavy hiring restrictions have been in place for full time, permanent, non-public safety related positions within the National Park Service. A 4-out, 1-in policy and required approval from a hiring committee has led to almost no change, until now!
The NPS has approved hiring 531 permanent, non-public safety positions across all our park units. While this doesn’t come close to covering all the positions that have sat vacant over the past year (officially a decrease in 3,824 from 2024 until now), it is something to hold onto. If you are interested in seeing what those positions are, hop over to USAjobs to see the current listings. If you want to apply and possibly join our craziness, just remember: resumes must be limited to 2 pages now, and the “loyalty test” questions on applications are optional.
🙃National Snark Service
The start of this year has been another sobering reminder that our upper management do not have our backs.
Making national news was an audio leak from an internal Alaska regional meeting confirmed to the broader public what we already knew: the lowering of performance ratings comes from the very top of the government, and has lasting impacts. This is due to performance ratings serving as a key metric when conducting a Reduction-in-Force (government layoff) - the difference between a ‘3’ and a ‘4’ rating can mean the difference between keeping a job and losing it. The backlash even led to an impassioned yet whiny response from OPM itself.
Employees represented by certain unions such as NTEU have won the right to have their performances re-evaluated, a silver lining in this whole situation.
🔥Words to Wallow With
“It’s a strange thing how demonstrations tend to solve problems. The other thing is that it’s little known that crime rates go down in almost every community where you have demonstrations … Anytime we’ve had demonstrations in a community, people have found a way to slough off their self-hatred, and they have a channel to express their longings and a way to fight nonviolently — to get at the power structure, to know you’re doing something, so you don’t have to be violent to do it.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. in “Showdown for Nonviolence,” posthumously published on April 16, 1968 in Look Magazine, 14 days after his assassination