National Park News | National Parks Get Vandalized, NPS Sued For Not Accepting Cash, New National Monument?

They dislodge and shove boulders over the edge while a frightened girl pleads with her father not to fall. Lake Mead officials shared images of the perpetrators defacing the rocks on social media and requested information about the pair. If you have information that could help identify the suspects, you can contact investigators and tips can be anonymous. The National Park Service-wide tip line is 888-653-0009, or online, you can go to nps.gov slash, submit a tip. At Yosemite National Park, a visitor caught the aftermath of a gender reveal party in a photo and posted it to Reddit.

In the photo, the snow on the ground below Yosemite's towering cliffs is covered in a pink substance. According to USA Today, three Americans are suing the National Park Service over some park locations no longer accepting cash payments for entry. The plaintiffs from California, New York, and Georgia filed the lawsuit in early March in federal court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit says the Park Service's policy violates a U.S. law that says that coins and currency are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.

Thus, the National Park Service's refusal to accept U.

S. currency tendered for entrance fees constitutes a clear violation of federal law, says the lawsuit obtained by USA Today. The lawsuit says that 29 National Park Service sites throughout the country don't accept cash as payment to enter, including Saguaro National Park, the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site, and the Fort Pulaski National Historic Site. In May of 2023, the National Park Service had announced that certain sites within the National Park System would no longer accept cash for entry. A representative for the National Park Service told USA Today that in recent years the U.S.

Treasury created policies to reduce the amount of cash and checks handled across the federal government, and many banks stopped partnering with the Treasury in that process. So the number of banks with relationships with the Treasury Department where national parks could then take cash to be deposited has dwindled, especially in remote areas. Death Valley spends roughly $40,000 a year on processing and transporting cash. The lawsuit is asking that the Park Service restore cash operations for visitors, saying that millions of Americans do not have access to bank accounts, and the plaintiffs seek no monetary reward. More in a moment, but first, this episode is sponsored by RV Share.

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Alex Padilla have introduced bills to designate the Chukwalla National Monument and expand Joshua Tree National Park. The land that would be protected includes part of the Chukwalla Valley, all of the Chukwalla Mountains, and the adjacent Mecca Hills, all in Southern California, east of Joshua Tree along I-10.. The landscapes are rich in biological diversity and home to desert tortoises, kit foxes, golden eagles, and the proposed monument's namesake, the Chukwalla lizard. The bills are supported by local tribes, numerous businesses, communities, and conservation groups. In 2023, Ruiz first unveiled legislation for the proposed 660,000-acre Chukwalla National Monument and 17,000-acre addition to Joshua Tree.

Padilla introduced a companion bill in the Senate, and Ruiz reintroduced his bill again during the 2024 session. The legislators are also asking the Biden administration to use the Antiquities Act to designate the monument and expand the park, which would be sort of a workaround for congressional approval. Separately, the New York Times is reporting that the Biden administration is planning to expand two other California national monuments designed to protect land of cultural significance to Native American tribes as well as biodiversity and wildlife corridors. The San Gabriel Monument is about 346,000 acres, and, according to the report, the White House intends to expand it by about 110,000 more acres. The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is about 331,000 acres of protected land in seven counties, and it will be expanded by just under 14,000 acres.

Legislation to expand both monuments has been stuck in Congress, although there has been little to no opposition. Zion National Park is set to rehabilitate the park's historic South Campground. The project will address deferred maintenance and repair needs related to the campground and deliver new and rehabilitated bathrooms, modern drinking water systems, improved sewer infrastructure, enlarged and reinforced stormwater drainage, improved campsites, and new food storage boxes. South Campground has hosted campers since it opened in the 1920s. Most of the infrastructure in the campground now dates from the 60s.

This rehabilitation project is addressing needs that resulted from aging infrastructure and will simplify future maintenance and increase accessibility. The 2024 National Park Week begins Saturday. The nine-day celebration begins with an entrance fee-free day on April 20 and continues through April 28.. If you have an annual pass to National Parks, we often suggest that you actually avoid the fee-free days if you don't want to be around all the crowds, but you might want to enjoy the crowds for this celebration. Of course, it's up to you.

A trip planning guide is available on NPS.

gov, and the official NPS app, an online calendar of activities, provides information about National Park Week happenings. In addition, each day will feature a different aspect of National Parks. Saturday, April 20, celebrates discovery of the 429 National Park Service sites. Sunday, April 21, celebrates the 123,000 volunteers that provide their time and talent. Monday, April 22, is Earth Day.

Tuesday, April 23, celebrates innovation. Wednesday, April 24, celebrates the Park Service workforce. Thursday, April 25, celebrates youth engagement. Friday, April 26, celebrates community connections. Saturday, April 27, is Junior Ranger Day.

And Sunday, April 28, celebrates arts in the parks. For more information about National Park Week, visit NPS.gov slash NPWeek. If you can't make it to a park in person, Paramount Plus and the National Park Foundation are teaming up to have some live stream events coming from Yosemite, Blue Ridge Parkway, Bighorn Canyon, New River Gorge, Everglades, Death Valley, and Zion. Being shown with sunrise to sunset live streams, beginning on Earth Day, viewers will be able to live stream the National Parks on Paramount Plus and on YouTube. That's it for this month's National Parks News Roundup.

Thanks so much for being here, everybody, and we'll see you next time.