A Republican senator seeks answers about why the director of a national park in Alaska ordered a construction crew to stop flying the American flag on their equipment.
The crew was told that the flags detracted from the “park experience” of the visitors.
The controversy is brewing at Denali National Park in Alaska.
“This is an outrage—particularly in the lead-up to our most solemn national holiday, Memorial Day, a time when Americans come together to honor those that gave their lives in service to our nation, while wearing our country’s flag,” Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan wrote in a letter sent Friday to Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service.
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“The American flag, especially on Memorial Day weekend, should be celebrated, not censored by federal government employees.”
Sullivan called for Sams to investigate the incident and explain what must be done to prevent something similar from happening again.
According to the website Alaska Watchman, Granite Construction is building a 475-foot-long bridge in Denali National Park as part of a $207 million Federal Highway Administration project. The bridge will replace a section of Denali Park Road that was destroyed by a 2021 rockslide. Visitors will use the road to access the park’s more remote areas.
This spring two trucks and a piece of heavy equipment had been flying standard-sized American flags, the Watchman reported.
Recently, according to an employee of the contractor, Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell informed the crew complaints were made about the flags.
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She reportedly told the crew that park officials “don’t want this” because “it isn’t conducive and it doesn’t fit the park experience,” the employee told the Watchman last week.
“Up until this week, however, the flags were displayed without incident. It was only when the park began running tour buses that the order was given to take down the flags, the worker shared. “Here I am in a national park, and we’re being told we can’t fly the American flag. I understand there are rules for contractors working in the national parks, but you wouldn’t think flying the American flag would be part of those rules.”
“When these liberals get in charge of these parks, that’s how it is,” the crewman added.
The Watchman added that park officials did not respond to a request for comment. The outlet also noted that the Biden administration has put on the NPS website an entire webpage devoted to the various LGBTQ flags.
An NPS spokesman did comment to The Washington Times, which followed up the Watchman’s report.
“Reports that a National Park Service (NPS) official ordered the removal of an American flag from a Denali bridge construction worker’s vehicle at Denali National Park are false,” Peter Christian, a regional public information officer, told the Times.
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“At no time did an NPS official seek to ban the American flag from the project site or associated vehicles,” he said.
Fox News noted that Sullivan stands by his letter, despite the NPS denial.
“The fact remains that one of his constituents called the senator’s office because the constituent was informed that he had to remove his 3 x 5 American flag after the National Park Service received a complaint about him flying the American flag on his truck,” Sullivan’s office told Fox News.
“In a conversation … between the Senator and the National Park Service Director, the director committed to providing more details to respond to the questions in the senator’s letter.”
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