Free Republic

Native American groups did not support the removal of a statue of William Penn from Welcome Park in Philadelphia prior to the Biden administration’s now-abandoned effort to do so. William Penn was an English Quaker who moved to the American Colonies in 1682 and founded the British colony of Pennsylvania, during which time he maintained friendly relations with Native Americans of the Lenape tribe. The National Parks Service recently canceled plans to remove Penn’s statue from federal property at Welcome Park, in Philadelphia’s downtown historic district, amid strong political and public backlash against the plan, though representatives for a native...

The National Park Service reversed course Monday and abandoned its proposed removal of William Penn's statue from Welcome Park in Old City. Why it matters: The withdrawn design incorporated Native American history rather than just the story of the state's founder, whose legacy has come under scrutiny for his ownership of enslaved people. Driving the news: The Park Service said Monday evening that the draft plan, published on Friday, was "released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review." The agency added that it looks forward to a "robust public process to consider options for refurbishing...

Six fire departments have been called to a working structure fire at the Flight 93 National Memorial headquarters along Park Headquarters Road in Stonycreek Township, according to scanner reports. The fire was reported around 3:15 p.m. Friday. The Daily American has sent a reporter to the scene and will provide updates as they become available.

When too much of a good thing can be too much. ... the swollen agency spends $2.6 billion a year. President Obama wants to spend still more money on parks, asking Congress to approve a scheme to spend an additional $1.2 billion over the next three years. The cash would be earmarked to celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial anniversary in 2016. It would fund, among other projects, an expensive youth work program and provide more muscle for the federales to wrestle land from individual property owners. ... Few national parks are financially self-sufficient. The rest are on the dole,...

The House Oversight Committee wants to find out why the Park Service behaved so bizarrely. ... Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, a former prosecutor, almost drove National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis into incoherence with his relentless questioning. Gowdy wanted to know why Jarvis had allowed “pot-smoking” Occupy Wall Street protesters to camp overnight illegally in Washington’s McPherson Square park for 100 days, yet put up barricades to keep veterans out of war memorials on the first day of the shutdown. By not issuing a single citation to the Occupy campers, Gowdy argued, the Park Service was treating them...

National Park Service director Jarvis said he discussed closing the open-air monuments and memorials with the White House, as well as the secretary of the Interior Department.

The National Park Service director will blame terrorism for having to shut down most of the National Mall during the government shutdown, saying that was the only way to protect the memorials with limited staff “in a post-9/11 world.” In testimony submitted to Congress, Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said he’s only been able to keep a dozen of the normal 300 employees charged with cleaning and caring for the capital region’s memorials during the shutdown, and without the rest of his staff he cannot guarantee the safety of the property.

"...................But perhaps the most extraordinary story to emerge from the NPS is that of the tour group of foreign seniors whose bus was trapped in Yellowstone Park on the day the shutdown began. They were pulled over photographing a herd of bison when an armed ranger informed them, with the insouciant ad-hoc unilateral lawmaking to which the armed bureaucrat is distressingly prone, that taking photographs counts as illegal “recreation.” “Sir, you are recreating,” the ranger informed the tour guide. And we can’t have that, can we? They were ordered back to the Old Faithful Inn, next to the geyser of...

div class="article"> Since first writing about the conduct of the National Park Service yesterday, events have accelerated somewhat.The Eagle-Tribune in New Hampshire reported on a local resident who went through something of an ordeal while visiting Yellowstone National park. I’ll let them tell it, just so you don’t think I’m making it up: Vaillancourt was one of thousands of people who found themselves in a national park as the federal government shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1. For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, were locked in...

The National Park Service’s closure of the World War II and other memorials violates rules requiring them to stay open, 93 House members charge in a letter to the agency. Led by Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, they claim that Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis is simply making up closure rules to punish the public during the government shut down and they question the costs of the random closures in Washington where not all memorials are being closed. "The National Park Service continues to act in an arbitrary and punitive manner to exclude veterans from memorials built in their honor...

700,000 people a day would have been visiting the parks and that the surrounding areas are losing $76 million in visitor spending per day. The park service said it is losing $450,000 per day in revenue from entrance fees and other in-park expenditures, such as campground fees and boat rentals.

Aggressive actions and double standards used by the National Park Service are vindictive and designed to inflict maximum inconvenience and fear among visitors, say Republican lawmakers whose efforts to reopen the parks are gridlocked by Senate Democrats. World War II veterans were blocked by barricades and armed guards from paying tribute at their memorial last week. However, the national mall where the memorial is located was opened Tuesday to allow hundreds of illegal immigrants to stage a protest demanding amnesty. ... the administration has closed the Mall and memorials to some groups and not others, giving preferential treatment under the...

A semi carrying porta potties pulled up yesterday beside the WW II Memorial in Washington D.C.. The porta potties were donated by private citezens to help out the visiting veterans since the facilities are closed. However, the park rangers turned the truck away and they were not allowed to unload. Michele Tennery witnessed this event and was astonished that the rangers could be so heartless in their treatment of the veterans. Michele added, “The photos show the attempted delivery of Port-A-Johns by Don’s Johns. The NPS Ranger would not allow the Port-A-Johns to be left at the WWII Memorial site...

It's like the return of the sequester cuts in how Obama and his political allies are using the current government shutdown to intentionally hinder and punish American citizens. We all remember that when the dreaded sequester cuts (which weren't cuts at all) went into effect, the Obama administration told federal agencies to cut back in those areas that would most inconvenience the public. Well, the same thing is happening again as the government shutdown continues to lurch forward. The progressive liberals in Congress and in the Obama administration just continue to show their true contempt for the average citizen. The...

A Washington, D.C. watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, for his spat with a park ranger at the National World War II Memorial earlier this week. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint Friday morning, Oct. 4, with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Neugebauer “for conduct that reflects discreditably upon the House,” according to a news release from the organization. “Rep. Neugebauer’s mistreatment of a federal employee who was doing her job is disgraceful,” Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director, said in a news release. “The blame for the government...

Park ranger breaks down "sometimes you just want to punch these congressmen in the face."Park ranger "you know who was moving these barricades in the first place? The damn congressmen."

In an era of the federal government excoriating Christianity, how is it that it can at the same time promote Islam...my country is being destroyed by politicians who want cheap Mexican labor and want to pacify the Muslims here......get your head out of your @ss and think about how stupid this approach is for the future of our country.....

The head of the National Park Service said Tuesday the Occupy DC protesters will get one final warning before U.S. Park Police begin to enforce the ban on camping in McPherson Square. Jonathan Jarvis testified Tuesday at a hearing of a House oversight subcommittee. He says the camping ban will be enforced “very soon.”

The tennis court at former President Jimmy Carter‘s private home is swept twice a day, his pool is cleaned daily and his grass cut, his flower beds weeded and his windows washed on a regular basis - all at taxpayers’ expense. Under an arrangement with the National Park Service, taxpayers are responsible for the exterior of Mr. Carter‘s home in Plains, Ga. - to the tune of $67,841 last year alone. In exchange, the government obtains the right to add the home to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site when he and his wife pass away. Other presidents have had...

It would be unimaginable for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to pursue the removal of thousands of crosses in Arlington National Cemetery situated so near the seat of the federal government in the nation's capital, and where so many of America's veterans and honored heroes are laid to rest. Likewise, it would be seemingly unthinkable for the ACLU to try to sue to eliminate the Senate and House chaplains (both of whom are of the Christian faith) who, in accordance with longstanding tradition, open with a prayer the upper and lower chambers each day that Congress is in session....