“preserved as wild spaces by and for the people of this country”
“myriad benefits that millions of people flock to their parks for”
“property of all United States citizens”
The comment
America's National Parks, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and other related lands are the property of all United States citizens. They are preserved as wild spaces by and for the people of this country. The agencies that have been tasked with their care and oversight are not given the right to simply start using these assets for whatever they want. It would be like a bank manager going into the safety deposit boxes and simply taking what they wanted or melting down all the gold to make a super tacky sculpture for the lobby. I think most people can agree that this would never be allowed. That manager would be personally liable and almost certainly have some prison time coming. Similarly, just because you hold a position as an employee paid by the citizens of the United States, in no way way does that give you the right to start pilfering our assets and passing them to your golfing buddies. Millions of people are watching you try to steal what isn't yours. We can see the difference between good management and theft. And just like that tacky gold statue, destroying assets that bring in millions of dollars every year to the surrounding communities is not good management. It's wildly shortsighted and serves only to benefit a very select few. We see what you are doing. And so even if you can't personally understand the myriad benefits that millions of people flock to their parks for, understand that what you are proposing is simply a very visible means to theft.