“What happened to this one?” the boy asked. His father reached out and touched the charred bark of a tree at the edge of the trail we were on.
“It was struck by lightning,” I told them.
“But it’s alive,” the man said.
The tree was tall and strong and sporting a healthy crown of fresh spring leaves. Down the length of its trunk was a dark scar under which the bark had hollowed out, leaving a burnt cavity on one side.
“It got struck but didn’t die,” I said.
“Wow,” said the boy. “Wow,” said his father.
Our group spent a few minutes staring at the tree, all of them taking turns touching it gently like it held some magic they hoped to steal. No one I’d taken on that trail before during my work as a US national park ranger had ever noticed that tree, but here it was, the star of the show for a day.
Resilience is amazing, if we take a moment to notice it. America and it national parks could use some of that resilience now.
This past year was a rough one for America’s national parks, and it was particularly rough for national park rangers. At least a quarter of all year-round national park employees lost their jobs in 2025, the first year of President Trump’s second term in office.
Many rangers lost their jobs in his first term as well; it’s not a coincidence that that’s when I left the national park service. It is getting harder and harder to be a caretaker of America’s public lands, and that is by design.
At the time of this writing, America’s national parks are under threat more than at any moment since their creation. There is a push (a very unpopular one) from this Administration to take land that belongs to the American people and sell it off to the super-wealthy or their corporations.
America’s national parks are hemorrhaging staff and facing massive budget cuts. They are struggling to protect the lands that generations of Americans have proudly proclaimed to be their own.
American democracy is under threat as well, and that is no coincidence. It was our adherence to democratic principles–to rule by and for the people, to all of us being created equal–that led to what many call America’s best idea: the national park.
The Grand Canyon is a national park, meaning it belongs to the American people. The Redwoods, the granite peaks of Yosemite, the rainbow pools of Yellowstone, the volcanoes of Hawaii–all of them belong to Americans. In America, our most spectacular natural and cultural treasures do not belong to the wealthy elite; in America they belong to all of us.
America’s national parks reflect the same ideals but also the same problems as the nation. US national parks were not always as welcoming to a diverse array of people as they should have been; for example, national parks across much of the American South were segregated in the early 1900’s. Even now, US national parks are not as diverse and welcoming as they could be.
As a famous symbol of American democracy, America’s national parks are tied to the nation’s fate. When our democracy struggles, so do our parks. Both are struggling now.
And yet I keep thinking about that tree by the trail’s edge, hollowed out by trauma on one side but still thriving. More beautiful and captivating because of its wounds.
And I think of the quote by 93-year-old Joy Ryan, who in 2023 became the oldest person on record to visit all 63 US national parks. The memory that stuck with her most vividly from her national park journey was of gazing up at the massive redwoods of California and seeing lacerations of charred wood.
“They’ve been struck by lightning,” she said. “And you think: that takes courage, after you’ve been struck by lightning to say, ‘I’m gonna keep on growing.'”
America’s national parks will keep pace with the growth of our nation. Whether we will move forward or backward, I can’t predict.
My hope though is that both our democracy and our parks will reveal themselves to be stronger than anyone would have predicted during our darkest moments. That one day, their scars will leave us in awe, because they are a sign of healing.
Inspired to support America’s public lands? Here are five ways you can help.