Weekly Watch: “Freedom 250” Celebration Encapsulates Admin’s Rampant Corruption
Trump and Smug Doug Burgum’s Shady “Freedom 250” Celebration Encapsulates the Rampant Corruption Across This Administration
HELENA, MT – Save Our Parks is tracking the massive assault against America’s national parks and public lands system by Donald Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and their cronies, documenting the ongoing consequences of Trump’s unprecedented attack on our nation’s natural heritage.
Trump and Smug Doug’s shady “Freedom 250” celebration is raising a lot of questions, and the Interior Department is providing very few answers. In 2016, the U.S. Congress created the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, named America 250, a bipartisan effort to commemorate our 250th anniversary. Not content to share the spotlight, Trump’s White House created its own effort – Freedom 250 – in concert with all Executive Branch agencies, and sponsored by groups like Exxon Mobil, the Museum of the Bible, and Hillsdale College. The Freedom 250 website includes a merch store, and it’s not clear where (or to whom) the proceeds go to.
This entire duplicative effort, in addition to being a clear ploy to make Trump the center of attention and a waste of taxpayer dollars, is ripe for corruption. It’s the East Wing-ification of America’s 250th anniversary: bulldozing an existing structure and replacing it with a monument to Trump’s vanity. And just like Trump’s gilded ballroom, there’s a good chance “Freedom 250” is a money-laundering machine for buying access to Trump and his top officials.
Elsewhere this week, Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee sent a letter to Interior Department Acting Inspector General Caryl Brzymialkiewicz demanding an investigation into Associate Deputy Secretary Karen Budd-Falen’s $3.5 million profit from the Trump administration’s fast-tracked approval of the massive Thacker Pass lithium mine. This marks an important first step towards getting transparency and accountability from Burgum’s self-serving fiefdom at the Interior Department, which has refused to answer questions about Budd-Falen’s failure to disclose her personal stake in the lithium mine deal, her failure to include the profit on four separate financial disclosure forms, and other questions about potential corruption occurring under his management, clear conflicts of interest, and overall lack of transparency. Yes, this is the least transparent Interior Department and Interior Secretary in history.
If you think Budd-Falen’s self-dealing and profiting off her government “service” is bad, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the open-air corruption happening under Burgum’s failed leadership. “Selloff Steve” Pearce, who’s never met a plot of public land he didn’t want to strip for parts and sell off to special interests, was just renominated by Trump to lead the Bureau of Land Management, akin to nominating a fox to be director of the henhouse.
But Pearce’s corruption goes beyond simply shilling for the oil and gas industry; he actively profits from it. The former New Mexico Congressman and the two-time failed statewide candidate made more than a million dollars off of oil and gas just last year, and his inadequate, incomplete financial disclosure form makes clear that he’ll maintain those ties, even if confirmed. Contrary to the Interior Department’s claims, “Selloff Steve” is not a qualified or accomplished person. But he is certainly mission-driven. And his mission? Selling off our public lands, gift-wrapping them for Big Oil, and making himself a fortune. But that’s just business as usual at Burgum’s Interior. Once Pearce finally gets a vote in the Senate, we’ll see which “Stewardship Caucus” members actually care about protecting and preserving our public lands, and which are just wolves in sheep’s clothing. Looking at you Senator Steve Daines and the rest of the Montana congressional delegation.
And speaking of weird and shady, check out what Burgum crony and former wealthy Texas investment banker turned-acting assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks Kevin Lilly has been up to. Hint: it’s not releasing his ethics or financial disclosure but it does involve the second known secretive closed-door meeting between Utah officials and top Interior brass, which appear to be specifically designed to avoid public meeting laws.
Parks and Public Lands in the News:
Safety and Preparedness
The Intercept: Trump Admin “Deliberately” Tanking Morale to Get Parks Staff to Quit, Official Says in Leaked Tape
“‘To the extent that they continue to do things that many of us feel are the reign of terror, that deliberately impact our morale in hopes that they’ll drive us out, that’s OMB and that’s OPM, right?’ Striker said, referring to Vought’s Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. ‘And that’s what the performance thing came under.’”
SFGate: Trump admin strips key science data from America's national parks
“Amid a political tug-of-war over the nation’s parks, decisions are being made blindly that could impact public lands for decades to come.”
HeatMap News: Doug Burgum Is Becoming What He Hated
“The interior secretary and former North Dakota governor used to praise liberty. Now he is betraying it.”
InForum: McFeely: Doug Burgum’s ominous words about Greenland
“In the run-up to a White House meeting about the fate of Greenland with officials from the territory and its largest funder Denmark, Burgum has taken to the airwaves to pitch the importance of America acquiring the island by hook or by crook. It is Trump’s wish.”
Privatization and Sell-Offs
New York Times: Democrats Seek Investigation of $3.5 Million Deal by Interior Official’s Husband
“House Democrats asked the Interior Department’s inspector general on Tuesday to investigate whether Karen Budd-Falen, the agency’s third highest ranking official, played a role in the federal approval of a lithium mine after her husband entered into a $3.5 million financial relationship with the mine’s developer.”
Public Domain: House Dems Demand Probe Into Top Interior Official, Citing Public Domain’s Reporting
“The letter, which directly cites Public Domain and our co-publishing partner High Country News, comes in the wake of an investigation this outlet published in December that revealed Budd-Falen’s husband struck a deal in 2018 to sell water rights from one of the family’s ranches to the developer of the controversial Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada.”
E&E News: Public land, hunting advocates lobbying moderates to kill pro-mining resolution
“But Zinke is whipping colleagues to support Stauber’s legislation, something Callaghan called disappointing.”
Community Impacts
New York Time: At Yosemite, Rangers Are Scarce and Visitors Have Gone Wild
“After the Trump administration’s cuts, workers at the national park are spread too thin to stop people from littering, flying drones and cliff-diving.”
WyoFile: Trump administration wants to boost hunting in Grand Teton National Park
“‘You can’t abandon the Organic Act to hunt,’ Brengel said. ‘That’s why I think this is going to be a fruitless exercise.’ Brengel also questioned the wisdom of adding duties — in this case, requiring a planning process — for national parks that have been steadily shedding staff.”
E&E News: Dem senators: Trump’s face on park passes breaks law
“A dozen Senate Democrats are accusing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of sidestepping a law that governs national parks in a bid to stroke President Donald Trump’s ego.”
Fast Company: You’re banned from blocking Trump’s face on your national park pass—but there’s a work-around
“The 2026 national park pass features a portrait of Donald Trump’s face, and the Department of the Interior (DOI) has threatened to penalize anyone who tries to cover it up. Now, park lovers are inventing their own clever work-arounds to remove the president’s visage from their passes.”
Outside: National Parks Are No Longer Free on MLK Day. Here’s Why That Hurts.
“[T]hese places must be accessible to everyone, even if only for a couple of days each year. When access is restricted, even symbolically, it has consequences that reach far beyond the entry gate.”
Stories on the Trail
@americanhuntersanglers: 🚨 Trump’s Pick to Run the BLM Is Filthy Rich... and Filthy With Conflicts of Interest
Former Congressman Steve Pearce (yep, the one with a long track record of opposing public land), R-NM, is Trump’s nominee to run the Bureau of Land Management — and his new 25-page financial disclosure? It’s a BFD.
@National_Parks_Traveler: On the campaign trail, Donald Trump dismissed Project 2025, a policy plan released in 2022 by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, for a future Republican presidency. The plan was highly unpopular among voters, with one poll finding that just seven percent of registered Republicans viewed the plan positively. However, a Project 2025 public lands progress report from the Center for Western Priorities shows that the Trump administration is moving nearly in lockstep with the plan.
@NPCA: A mine in a national park?! We visit the site of the controversial mine to explain how things got here and how we're fighting back.
@protectNPS: National parks rely on science to protect wildlife, water, and ecosystems, but that science is under threat.
🗣️ “You don’t know what to do until the science tells you.”
@GovPressOffice: REMINDER: @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom directed @CAStateParks to offer free entry TODAY at more than 200 participating parks in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026. This comes as Trump cancels free admission to National Parks on MLK Day.
The Crisis Continues:
The crisis continues to escalate across America’s 640-million-acre public lands system and is poised to get worse after Trump’s spending package, passed by Congressional Republicans, slashed some $267 million of previously committed funding for national parks. The National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its permanent workforce since Trump took office, with some parks now operating without superintendents and at half-staff during peak visitation. Between Trump, DOGE, and Republicans’ draconian budget cuts, hiring freezes, and workforce reductions, the staffing shortages are forcing scientists, park rangers, and other safety personnel to clean toilets and pick up garbage instead of conducting critical work like ongoing maintenance and supporting visitor safety.
Save Our Parks documents and exposes conditions across America’s federal park and public lands system through monitoring reports, visitor testimonials, and accountability research. The campaign maintains comprehensive documentation through its website at SaveOurParks.us.
To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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