American Flags Fit Into The National Park Experience

According to the contractor, Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell contacted the man overseeing the federal highways project, claiming there had been complaints about the U.S. flags, and notifying him that bridge workers must stop flying the stars and strips from their vehicles because it detracts from the “park experience.”

“The trucks are flying these American flags, about a foot atop the trucks, about three-foot by four-foot flags, and they said they don’t want this,” the contractor explained. “They’re saying it isn’t conducive and it doesn’t fit the park experience.”

Senator Sullivan rebuked Superintendent Merrell in a letter and tweeted, “It is an outrage that on the lead-up to Memorial Day, a construction worker was prohibited from flying an American flag in a national park in Alaska. I cannot conceive of a federal law or regulation mandating this. I’ve written the @NatlParkService and demanded a response.” 

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In response to Merrell’s alleged ridiculous demand, a convoy is headed to the park to support the workers. 

Is Superintendent Merrell, who’s held the post since 2022, aware that there’s an American flag displayed at Denali National Park’s Eielson Visitor’s Center? Wikipedia even has a picture. Or would she, like other Biden administration officials, gladly prioritize the Pride flag above our national flag? The Great Outdoors is inherently inclusive. You don’t need to display political flags to boost public lands access. Our national flag is inclusive enough.

Let’s examine more about Superintendent Merrell’s background and tenure as park superintendent, shall we? 

After her elevation to superintendent in 2022, it was revealed that she is a “historic” pick to supervise and oversee Denali National Park. The NPS wrote she brings “ experience and leadership skills to the top job” but emphasized “Merrell’s appointment is significant as she is the first woman to hold the top job at Denali in its 105-year history.” 

In a 2022 interview with Anchorage Daily News, Merrell expressed support for DEI and the climate crisis narrative. 

“…I think just looking at what we’ve been able to accomplish with effort in terms of seeing an equitable number of women in leadership roles, we know we can achieve the same results with other areas of diversity and inclusion in the National Park Service,” she said of advancing DEI in the NPS.

Here’s the exchange on climate change: 

ADN: Climate change is impacting Alaska in so many different ways. I’m wondering what more specific climate change impacts you’re seeing play out in Denali, and what your plans are for some of those more specifically.

Merrell: So, we’re seeing what everyone in Alaska is seeing — that the permafrost melt and increased temperatures and increased rainfall are creating a lot of movement in the ground, and so we’ve got sinkholes and landslides at an increasing rate.

Some of the foundations of buildings are starting to move. And so a lot of it is going to be just adjusting how we build, how we improve our infrastructure, the methods that we use for a foundation of a building or where we decide to site buildings.

Another aspect is that it’s going to be more expensive to respond to these more catastrophic climate change movements on the ground. And we’re going to have to figure out how we do that and and how and whether we can maintain all of our facilities in the park.

This emphasis on government officials’ immutable characteristics over following the agency’s mission statement isn’t an accident. It’s derived from the Department of Interior’s April 2022 Equity Action Plan, and NPS falls under the DOI umbrella. It reads, “Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, calls on the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI, the Department) to advance equity so that it is not just an ideal, but a principle that is reflected in how the Department serves the American people and fulfills its mission. By embedding equity in its operations, policies, and decision-making process, the Department is committed to equitable treatment of all individuals, regardless of race, color, national origin, age, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), religion, or disability. The Department is proud to put forward this Equity Action Plan, which lays out the foundation to achieve outcomes that remove barriers to equal opportunity and deliver resources and benefits equitably to all.” 

This equity plan is a Biden administration “all-of-government” approach. Secretary Deb Haaland established the agency’s inaugural Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Council “to incorporate these practices into the Department’s work across its many bureaus.” 

So Merrell’s selection fits the bill. Honestly, I could care less about her so-called historic appointment, especially if it leads to poor management decisions and public lands access restrictions. 

Besides this brouhaha, her record at Denali is questionable. In February 2023, it was revealed Denali National Park mulled imposing freedom of speech restrictions on non-commercial filming opportunities in the park.

The 2023 Denali National Park Superintendent's Compendium proposed, “Outdoor filming activities outside of areas managed as wilderness involving five persons or less and equipment that will be carried at all times, except for small tripods used to hold cameras…If the Superintendent determines that the terms and conditions of a permit could not mitigate the concern identified above in an acceptable manner, the Superintendent may deny a filming request without issuing a permit.”

National Parks are America’s Best Idea. And yes, American flags perfectly fit into the park experience.