Nature enthusiasts gathered in Yosemite National Park every February to witness a majestic “fire” event, but this year’s crowds met another sight.
A flag was hung on the top of the famous El Pitan Summit, a 3,000-foot vertical rock formation in Mariposa County, California, Saturday night, hanging down by a group of upset Yosemite employees.
According to the US flag law, an upside down American flag is traditionally a sign of “disastrous pain.”
The demonstration is a phenomenon that unfolds in February, when Horse Tail, a seasonal waterfall on the east side of El Pitan, unfolds in February, when it shines like orange lava. The sun is set. The event attracts gusts of wind from photographers waiting for hours for the perfect shot.
“We’re paying attention to what’s going on in the park, the property of all Americans,” Gavin Carpenter, the park’s maintenance mechanic that supplied the flag, told the San Francisco Chronicle. . “It’s very important to us to look after them and we’re losing people here. If we want to keep the park open, it’s not sustainable.”
The Trump administration cut 1,000 jobs at the National Park Service earlier this month, with a push to reduce federal bureaucracy and spending. He says it has affected employees in national parks and forests, but on valuable public lands in America, fewer workers lead to longer lines, dirty bathrooms, and unsafe hiking and camping conditions. For many, the job was already paying low pay, compensated by breathtaking scenery and sunsets.
Photographer Brittany Colt took a picture of the upside-down flag under the fire.
“This has brought me very close to home for me. I have seen some of my friends lose their jobs overnight, leaving our public land vulnerable. These people are searching and rescued. They did invaluable jobs, such as maintaining toilets and keeping the park clean for visitors. If they lose a civil servant, the park experience becomes more difficult and potentially dangerous for visitors. It’s just going to be,” she wrote in her Instagram story.
Alex Wilde, a former Yosemite and the only certified EMT ranger at Devil’s Post Pile National Monument in California, told NBC’s Morgan Chesky last week: If they get injured. ”
He said without him, people would probably wait hours for the first local counterpart to arrive. “That could mean life and death for someone with an emergency,” Wilde said.
The Trump administration later said it would restore at least 50 jobs to maintain and clean the park, and would hire nearly 3,000 seasonal workers after a backlash against the cuts, the Associated Press reported.
