Resist is not a bad word: Citizens Rally to Save Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers
FORESTS, NOT FASCISTS /
FORESTS, NOT FASCISTS /
On March 15, 2025, a small spot of hope shone in Townsend, Tennessee. Stationed between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Little River, a group of 40 protesters called for the protection of the park. Since February, 15 full time park rangers have been illegally fired from their jobs. This includes 12 maintenance workers and three biologists, along with the 3,400 UD Forest Service Workers and 1,000 National Park Service staffers “on what some critics are referring to as the “Valentine’s Day massacre committed by DOGE” (Turner.)
Handmade signs read “Save Our Parks”, “Forests Not Fascists”, and “Tell Musk to Take a Hike!” This group of concerned locals organized their impromptu demonstration in under a week from an Facebook page and text messages. Though unaffiliated with any official platform, the citizens are aghast at what the administration is doing to the park.
Local woman BB Alley saw the need to raise her voice, so she put together a protest as soon as she could. Her friends in the park service are unable to speak up for fear of professional consequences. Alley listed the soon-to-be-felt ramifications of these staff reductions including campground closures, the postponement of a popular bike day event, a lack of trail and bathroom maintenance, and most vitally, no emergency services in the park.
“If you have an injury, who’s gonna come save you?” she asked. “Or if you fall off a bridge and are drowning?” Alley cited Project 2025’s plans for public lands as major concerns, mentioning the potential of privatization and mineral extraction as a priority over wildlife protections.
“It will all be sold off. This will look like the moon,” Alley said, likely referring to the practice of mountaintop removal for mining.
Photo from Kent Mason, Appalachian Voices.
Not only are Cades Cove and the Smoky Mountains a playground for East Tennessee, but they bring the nation to this region, boosting the economy. Tourist dollars, no matter how annoying due to traffic or tacky restaurants, fund cities like Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Townsend. Without travel to the beautiful national park, the economy will take major hits. Many passersby seemed to share these concerns, as most cars honked or waved in support. The group received very few negative responses towards their cause.
Another present local, Bruce McKinnon, stated: “This is just a small, small piece of the pie with what's going on right now. And so sometimes you have to choose your battles, but care about everything.”
He believes park rangers are a valuable asset that you can't put a price on. If there are to be government budget cuts, he insists that the money can be found elsewhere but not to be taken away from the country in this way.
“This is just a move to create havoc within our U.S. and also it's a money grab; it's all about the money,” said Bruce, pointing to his signs, which read:
Oligarchy and democracy cannot coexist
Resist: protect our national park service employees.
But Bruce was encouraged by the protest turnout and general support they received. “If you want to join a group that cares about you, that cares about others, that really does, then resist with us. And resist is not a bad word. We the people. We, they serve us, the government serves us. We don't serve them.”
Also on site was retired Parks Ranger Jeff Wells. He worked for the Tennessee State Parks as a ranger, a manager, and other roles for 37 years. Wells emphasized that rangers are the backbone of the Park Service and make sure that the visitors have a safe experience.
Wells commented, “Whether it's national parks, state parks, or local parks, these are the places that are the treasures, are the garden spots, are the places where great historic events occur. These are places that appeal to all people of our country, and that are important to preserve for all people of our country. The current climate is so discouraging for those that have dedicated their lives to preserving these places, these special places for the American people.”
In the pursuit of “Restoring American Energy Dominance”, we are bankrupting our country of communal value. This section of Project 2025 insists that pilfering nationally protected lands for oil, revoking the EPA because of ‘radical climate agenda’, and removing wildlife protections to hunt endangered animals are all vital steps for the survival of our country. In reality, they are tearing apart America at the seams.
Last year upon release of this plan, the Sierra Club––one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world––observed, “This blueprint for right-wing governance is a veritable wish list for any industry seeking to privatize public lands and ignore wildlife protections.”
Project 2025 “is like [an oil-lobbyist] fever dream when it comes to public lands … and it’s really a nineteenth-century approach,” Athan Manuel, the director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, said.
Amongst the plan’s endless destruction, the environmental elements are marginal to civil rights revocations, yet disastrous to all. Gay or straight, left or right, Christian or other, this affects everyone negatively. It is simply not a partisan issue. But where is the reaction? It is there, but silenced.
Compared to the collective outrage of 2020, it seems like Americans have given up on protests. The news isn’t covering civil gatherings in outcry against the sweeping destructive policies of the Trump administration. People are tired, feeling hopeless, and most of all: busy.
Time is a commodity that conscientious objectors cannot afford.
The pandemic lockdowns provided a unique opportunity for people to break out of survival mode and act. People still care. They come together in small groups of impassioned efforts. Just a few miles away, another group stood in front of the Townsend tourist center protesting a proposed bill which would allow private companies to purchase federal lands for tourist attraction development.
As plotted by the Heritage Foundation, we are experiencing a complete bombardment of legal changes, so oversaturated with chaos that it is near impossible to keep up with it all.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Call and ask your elected officials to speak up!
Bipartisan Anti-DOGE Protest, Saturday, March 22, Knoxville Convention Center, 701 Henley Street, 1 PM. Bring signs and sass!
Boot, scoot, and boogie to the two-step of a two-faced twat, Senator Tim Burchett, on March 22 at Cotton-Eyed Joe’s for the AFP Protect Prosperity Rally. 3-5 PM. Bring a friend.
