Who doesn’t love clean air, good visibility, and happy and healthy wildlife in that most treasured of all our resources — our national parks?

Sadly, it’s not a rhetorical question.

In a recent internal email, the Department of the Interior told National Park Service staff that it would be suspending contracts for the Park Service’s air-quality monitoring program. This program helps the agency collect data on harmful pollutants at our national parks.

Think about that for a minute.

The program probably costs less than $2 million, or less than 0.00003% of the $6.7 trillion Federal budget. Research shows that 97% of parks have high levels of air pollution, posing health risks to park-goers and vulnerable species. And the national parks are among the 10 most popular tourist destinations in the United States.

Yet, somebody in the Trump Administration thought this was a good idea. Could it be that it would also allow the federal government to permit industrial projects near the parks without considering air pollution, making existing problems worse?  Nah.Nobody would put profits over people, right?

Thankfully, that’s not where this story ends.

Before the Interior Department could make its decision public, the internal email was shared with The Washington Post. And once they broke the story?

It didn’t take long for the Park Service to send a follow-up email, indicating that the stop-work orders that had been issued would be reversed.

This win was a direct result of media coverage, staff pushback, and public pressure—not the Interior Department’s miraculous change of heart or newfound respect for the Clean Air Act or the health of the American public. While this may seem like a small story in the grand scheme of the current moment, it reminds us of three very important things.

First, this isn’t the end of it. No matter how illogical the action or severe its impacts, the Trump Administration will continue its senseless attacks on the institutions and systems that protect and support the American people. Even now, Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 suggests sweeping cuts to climate, clean energy, and environmental programs, including reducing the National Park Service’s already small budget by nearly 40%.

Second, as the Washington Post’s motto attests, “Democracy dies in darkness.” This kind of reporting needs to be encouraged and rewarded. If you are among those, like some of us, who ended your WP subscription because of Jeff Bezos’ decision not to endorse a presidential candidate, perhaps it’s time to reconsider that decision?

Finally, this story reminds us that our voices can make a difference. As we’ve said many times, public opinion is the only effective counterweight to the immense power of those who put profit above public welfare. Speaking out doesn’t always change the outcome, but it does so often enough that it’s worth doing. That’s why we created the CAN app—to make it easy for you to express your opinion. Your opinion is your superpower. Use it!

So let’s continue to call out the Trump Administration at every turn. For all of the chaos and havoc they can wreak, they can’t stop us from fighting to protect what we love!