Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose
More than 100 days into Donald Trump’s chaotic second presidency, Del Norters are urged to bring their concerns about how Redwood National and State Parks will weather the storm to the fairgrounds on Saturday.
The parks’ deputy district superintendent, Shelana deSilva, and Redwood Parks Conservancy Executive Director Sal Moreno are expected to be in the floral building at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for two hours of “coffee and conversation.”
It’s the third such gathering the Del Norte County Democratic Central Committee has hosted since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 21. Yet, according to Lupe Gutierrez, vice president of the local Democratic Party, it was difficult to organize.
“There are a lot of unknown things out there,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday, adding that she approached Six Rivers National Forest representatives about participating and hadn’t heard back. She said she also reached out to the Redwood National and State Parks and the Redwood Parks Conservancy — the “big agencies” in the area.
“I’m really curious as to what they’re going to say,” Gutierrez said of deSilva and Moreno. “I’m thinking that we won’t get the information we’re seeking because [there will be] a lot of, ‘We can’t talk about that.’”
In an outreach notice to the community, Gutierrez urged people to listen to deSilva and Moreno and find out how they can support those who steward Del Norte’s public lands and forests.
It’s a call to action that comes as tourist season approaches. In an article published on April 22 and updated on April 25, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration dismissed more than 1,000 permanent full-time National Park Service workers weeks after Trump took office and at least 700 others took buyouts.
There are conflicting court rulings that have reinstated laid off employees and then given the government permission to fire them again, the Times reported. And another round of buyouts could increase the total number of staff departures to about 2,500, the Times reported citing Kristen Brengel, senior vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.
Many reinstated employees decided not to return to their jobs, the Times reported.
In a conversation with Kurt Rapenshek, of the National Parks Traveler, posted on Sunday, Congressman Jared Huffman, who represents Del Norte County and the North Coast, spoke of an order U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued for national parks to be open and accessible to tourists this summer.
“It’s going to be difficult for any national park to make it through this summer with any semblance of service and stewardship that we expect,” said Huffman, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.
On Wednesday, Gutierrez pointed out that, with tourist season coming up, people are going to want to know whether host stations will be manned and how difficult it will be to get a reservation at a campground.
They’ll also want to know how local federal workers will be impacted, Gutierrez said. She said she knows of two people in particular, Forest Service workers, who aren’t sure if they’ll have to move out of the area as a result of the reduction in the federal workforce or if they’ll even keep their jobs.
“The other thing I was kind of surprised [about] is that people don’t know what the Redwood Parks Conservancy does or even the State and National Parks,” Gutierrez said. “We’re in a unique situation, right, because we have state and national [parks] combined.”
Those who attend the “coffee and conversation” gathering will also likely want to know how many state and national park workers are in the community as well as how many volunteers there are, Gutierrez said.
“I think it’ll open up some conversation,” she said.
Future coffee and conversation gatherings are already in the works, with a chat featuring Sutter Coast Hospital CEO Michael Lane planned for June 7, Gutierrez said. That conversation will focus on changes to MediCal, Medicare and Medicaid, she said. Other conversations will focus on citizenship, she said.
Meanwhile, in addition to rallying — the local Hands Off Rally on April 5 drew almost 400 people, Gutierrez said — locals are engaged in a postcard writing campaign to reach out to their Congressman.
“There are other activities that people do — postcard writing, phone banking, supporting other states in their [activism] efforts,” she said. “In California, sometimes people go, ‘we don’t need to do anything because we’re so Democratic.’ But no, there are districts in California that are very red and we need to make sure we are aware of that.”
