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President Trump Donates $78,333 To National Park Service, Critics Label It Publicity Stunt

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Interior Department staff on Monday tweeted this photo of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke presenting a check representing President Trump's first three months' salary to the National Park Service.

President Trump on Monday donated his salary for the first three months of the year to the National Park Service, a move quickly ridiculed as a publicity stunt by some groups.

The donation, of $78,333, pales in comparison to the estimated $12 billion maintenance backlog facing the National Park System, and comes in the wake of a $1.5 billion budget cut the president is proposing for the Interior Department, which oversees the national parks.

“If Donald Trump is actually interested in helping our parks, he should stop trying to slash their budgets to historically low levels. This publicity stunt is a sad consolation prize as Trump tries to stifle America’s best idea," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.

"It's a distraction that falls far short of the $12 billion needed to address the current backlog of park maintenance and does nothing to offset the almost $2 billion Trump asked Congress to cut from the Department of the Interior in his budget. America’s parks, and the people and economies they support, need real funding, not a giant fake check. Parks are a good investment and we must invest now if we want them to be around for our kids.”

At the Center for Western Priorities, Deputy Director Greg Zimmerman said, "President Trump and Secretary (Ryan) Zinke should be embarrassed by today’s publicity stunt. You can’t propose $1.6 billion in cuts to our public lands, then pretend a $78,000 donation makes it better. The White House needs to protect America’s parks and public lands, not pay lip service to them."

Interior Secretary Zinke said the $78,333 would go to maintaining historic battlefield properties in the National Park System. The Interior secretary's tweet of the donation included a note stating that after the president made his donation, an anonymous donor contributed $22,000 to the National Park Foundation.

Comments

A few years ago, a Tacoma, Washington, billboard ran this headline for several months. The client was a local TV station advertising the "superiority" of its take on the news.

"At 10 It's News. At 11 It's History."

There's your new America for you. Forget history and think only of what suits the moment. When Donald Trump makes history, the media then refuses to call it history, since no one knows what history is anymore.

Was this donation newsworthy? Yes. And that is because it was unprecedented, i.e., historical. We don't question what the millionaire in our church gives, do we? Certainly, no one questioned what John D. Rockefeller, Jr., gave the national parks, whether small or large. Over time, it happened to be large, but again, it was over time. Did Horace Albright imply, in asking Mr. Rockefeller to help save Jackson Hole, that he would be a cheap SOB unless he helped save all of it?

One moment you're all complaining that Donald Trump will prove a "disaster" for the national parks, and then, when he proves he knows they exist, you all complain "he should have done more."

No, YOU should be doing more. Your taxes are just the beginning of what philanthropy means and obligates.

Yes, Mr. Trump is cutting the budget of the Interior Department, but that is not unusual for any president, either. Presidents force Congress to make some choices, Now we'll see what choices this Congress makes.

Meanwhile, Concerned Citizen is right. If it is fair to question Donald Trump's motives (and it is), it also fair to question his predecessor's motives and commitment to the national parks. History is always the starting point. Did they "prosper" under Mr. Obama? No. They did as they generally do; they survivied. If you want them to prosper, get out your checkbooks. Meanwhile, your president has beaten you to the punch.


Of course critics will find fault. That's what makes them critics but it doesn't make them right. Trump could have wiped out the entire maintenance backlog and there would still be critics. Both sides play this game and it hurts everyone. Ask yourself how much was that backlog reduced under Obama's 8 years in office. Unfortunately it seems these days we are living under the model that the squeaky wheel gets the grease but in my experience those that squeak the loudest are usually the least deserving.


As a 36 year former employee of NPS, and no Trump lover, I was pleased that Mr T gave his paycheck to NPS.  NPS got off on the wrong foot with inane tweets that pulled the tiger's tail.  Totally unnecessary and incendiary.  Stupid!  Sad!  Anyways, glad he chipped in and I hope it was received with some graciousness - more than has been shown here by some commenters.


Yep!  That's agreement to Mr. Runte.

My suspician is and it is playing out that President Trump will continue to rise above all the Leftist lunatic lingo that has go dominated the discussions.  He has near him folks that are successes in their own right and not just, well, what we've had.  How much did the Clinton Foundation contribute to the National Parks?  Would love to see more politicians get into the backcountry, not just for photo ops like what we've come to expect.  To humbling an experience for many of them but that's what they need to better represent us, Im thinking.  

 


I bet you could boil this discussion into 2 camps.  Those who know climate change is happening and we are the cause, and those who do not believe (not scientists) that 99% of scientists are correct.  It has nothing to do with his "gift"


Argalite,  could be only one camp that climate change is going on.  I personally don't know anyone that doesn't believe its going on.  The division begins for those that believe only evil Republicans are causing it.  Lots and lots of money to be made on the latter. 


EC, I missed the memo. What has he done to save us tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars??

Yet another memo. 

http://thehill.com/regulation/329720-study-trump-has-eliminated-86b-in-regs


But nothing from a middle of the road publication, or any article that examines the effects on the individuals affected?

 

Of his proposed actions?


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