Earlier this month, Jane reached out about what’s happening to our national parks and asked if you could sign our petition to demand their protection — and, if they mean something to you, share your story.
Our national parks do more than protect nature. They hold our history. They remind us where we’ve been. And for many of us, they feel like home. If they matter to you, Jane would love to hear why.
I know what it’s like to be lost in the wilderness, John.
In 1989, I was hiking deep in Sequoia National Park when I got separated from my companion and lost above the timberline. Night fell. The temperature dropped. I had no choice but to hunker down in the snow until morning. If it weren’t for the Forest Service sending a helicopter to search for me the next morning, I might not be here today.
I’ve had many occasions to witness the courage and essential work performed by park employees. With Donald Trump’s administration gutting our National Park Service, I can’t help but wonder: If I got lost today, who would be left to find me?
Nearly 1,000 National Park Service staff have been laid off, and nearly twice that amount have been let go from the U.S. Forest Service. Essential leases for visitor centers and ranger stations have been abruptly canceled. And at the same time, Trump wants to fast-track logging in our forests, roll back protections, and turn over hundreds of millions of acres of public lands to oil and gas drillers.
In the U.S., people are already too cut off from nature. National parks are some of the last remaining spaces where people can step away from the pressures of daily life and experience nature firsthand. They also protect endangered species, fragile ecosystems, and cultural history. But instead of safeguarding these sacred spaces, this administration is stripping protections and offering them up as yet another resource for extraction and exploitation.
We’re not letting that happen without a fight.
Last week, off-duty park rangers and everyday people took to the streets in protest. At parks across the country, including Yosemite and Muir Woods, people are demanding that our parks be protected and that their staff be reinstated. They’re proving we won’t sit by while Trump sells off something that isn’t theirs to sell.
I’m with them.
And I want to make sure every decision-maker in Washington knows just how much our national parks mean to us. Will you add your name to our petition to protect our parks and the people who care for them? And if national parks hold a special place in your heart, we’d love to hear your story about what they mean to you.
We’re collecting these stories and delivering them straight to Congress and the White House so they know what the American people expect from their leaders.
Thank you for fighting for the places we love,
Jane Fonda
