Oversight Hearing on "All in for America250

The Committee on Oversight and Investigations will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the subcommittee at any time. The subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on "All in for America250: Public-Private Partnerships Supporting America’s Semiquincentennial on our Public Lands." Under committee rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at the hearing are limited to the chairman and the ranking member. I therefore ask unanimous consent that all the other members' statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted in accordance with committee rule 3(o). Without objection, so ordered. I ask unanimous consent that the following members be allowed to sit and participate in today's hearing. This is amazing because we never get this kind of participation. So, first is the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. McDowell; the gentlewoman from Utah, Ms. Maloy; the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Wittman; the gentleman from Iowa, Mr. Nunn; the gentlewoman from New Mexico, Ms. Stansbury; the gentlewoman from Oregon, Ms. Hoyle—I told you, I'll watch these people—gentlewoman from Washington, Ms. Randall; the gentlewoman from Arizona, Ms. Gallego; the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Clyburn; the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Scott; the gentlewoman from Maine, Ms. Pingree; the gentleman from New York, Mr. Tonko; the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Chu; the gentleman from California, Mr. Takano; the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Beyer; the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Garcia; the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Kamlager-Dove; gentlewoman from Hawaii, Ms. Tokuda. Anybody else that I missed? Okay, without objection, so ordered. I now recognize myself for my initial statement. Good morning, everybody. Great seeing some shiny faces and smiling faces out there. I'd like to thank all our witnesses for being here today, especially for those who have dedicated their careers to helping make some of the most spectacular places in America even better. Today we are here not only to officially kick off the celebration of America's 250th birthday, but we are also here to talk about the enduring philanthropic work the foundations and nonprofit partners have done to make our public lands even greater over the decades. As we celebrate 250 years of America's history, it is important to note that yes, our federal tax dollars are hard at work in ensuring these places continue to tell the story of America's treasured spaces. But much of this work is supported by volunteers and generous donors, sometimes a dollar at a time, others by large gifts, but either way, it creates a lasting legacy of a true American heritage we can all enjoy and be proud of. My home state of the great state of Arizona is home to some of our nation's most beautiful national parks, monuments, and recreation areas. From the Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran Desert, home to America's largest cacti, to Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and of course, one of the crown jewels of our national park system, the Grand Canyon, part of which is in my district. Arizona's public lands have been adored for generations and will continue to inspire Americans for years to come. The National Park Foundation has been an active supporter of Arizona's national parks and monuments, often in collaboration with local partners such as the Grand Canyon Conservancy. Projects these groups have completed include over 800 miles of trail restoration of Arizona's National Scenic Trail in the Grand Canyon, revegetation and rerouting of trails in Petrified Forest National Park, invasive species control and native plant restoration in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and waste reduction and educational programs throughout Arizona's parks. I'm even working with industry partners right now to clarify an air management plan that would allow for additional economic development across the northern half of the state. Four national forests in Arizona are currently working on one of the greatest collaborative efforts to restore the forests in the state. Through the collaboration of stakeholders, which includes groups like the National Forest Foundation and industry partners, the forest plans and carry out landscape-scale restoration of Ponderosa pine forests in northern Arizona while ensuring adequate management. As we approach this historic milestone of 250 years of American independence, we have an opportunity to highlight the ways that our history is written into the soil of this nation and recognize the collaborative efforts over the years to preserve that history. In my district, I have seen how the rugged landscapes of the West reflect our nation's journey and how stewarding them is essential to continue to tell the American story for the next 250 years and then some. We cannot overlook the economic vitality this anniversary will inject into the local communities surrounding these special places. As these celebrations continue, millions will travel not only to the events like this, but also to connect with nature and our shared cultural heritage. This means jobs for our constituents and vital support for small businesses that serve as the doorstep to our public lands and historical sites. This celebration requires significant preparation. This is not just patching cracks, but fortifying the stage for our nation's biggest birthday party to date. This work has been and is being done now, including upgrades to visitor centers and restoration of trails, campsites, and historical buildings to ensure accessibility to manage the surge in visitation we expect to see for America250. The foundations and nonprofits testifying here today help foster the public-private partnerships that play a key role in conserving and maintaining the national treasures of our public lands and historical sites. These groups and the people who staff them live and work in the places which are visited by millions of people every year, and their work helps to build grassroots engagement in their communities to ensure that these places are well-maintained and beautiful for all who travel to see them. This anniversary will serve as a launchpad, cultivating and captivating the next generation of stewards who will be responsible for conserving and protecting our cultural spaces and federal lands for the centuries to come. Thank you for coming today, and I now recognize Ranking Member Dexter for her opening statement. Oh, sorry. The ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Huffman of California, for his statement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So we've had 250 complicated years of the great democratic experiment of America. Moments of unity, triumph, achievement, punctuated by less flattering things: mistakes, injustices, even atrocities. Our greatness, though, has always been our enduring aspiration to be more perfect, and that's what real patriotism is. But it requires being honest about the full complexity of our past and about what's happening right now under our watch. Here's the truth: this corrupt, dishonest White House is trying to use America's 250th milestone as a stage to promote an alternate reality. In Trump's fake America, the darker parts of our past are airbrushed out. The dire realities of this moment for democracy, for the rule of law, for immigrant communities, and millions of Americans struggling to keep up with the cost of living—all of that is obscured by gaslighting and declarations of a new golden age. Even the soaring achievement of our secular, enlightenment-based founding is obscured by a Christian nationalist fiction. Trump seems to think the truth doesn't matter, that Americans just want to be entertained, even if it's gaslighting. But anyone who falls for these gauzy lies, anyone who thinks our founders would approve of what Trump is doing to our country right now, is deluding themselves. Patriotic Americans should be sounding the alarm throughout this 250th year about what's happening right now in our country. An unaccountable, militarized secret police force is terrorizing communities, murdering some people in the streets for caring about their neighbors and peacefully protesting. Our free press is under attack for daring to show the public the truth. Actual history is getting whitewashed and censored from national parks and museums. Our democracy is teetering on the brink as a deeply unpopular president, who knows he's going to lose a free and fair election, proposes nationalizing elections. And all of you sit silently, even though you know what that means, but you're too afraid or too beholden to speak up in defense of the Constitution that you swore to uphold against all enemies, foreign and domestic. On any given day, a racist madman in the White House is using the bully pulpit of the presidency to spread hateful depictions of the Obamas as apes, trying to blow up NATO, conquer Greenland, turn Canada into either an enemy or the 51st state depending on his mood, put his name and picture on everything like an insecure tin-pot dictator, hold billions of infrastructure dollars hostage unless cities agree to name things after him. All the while, you either do nothing or you cheer him on. He's turned you, the majority party in this Congress, into his own little Russian Duma, and even Putin must be impressed by what you're letting him get away with. For the Trump family and for their chosen oligarch friends, no grift is too audacious. For anyone who challenges them, it is political retribution with the full force of the law. That's the reality in the 250th year since our founders declared independence from a tyrant. And with the Duma's enthusiastic blessing, Trump and his Freedom 250 party planners are working to obscure reality with a fake narrative. America250 could have been an honest celebration. Trump didn't have control over the congressionally chartered nonpartisan organization leading the celebration, but like everything else, from the East Wing ballroom fiasco to the border of peace in Gaza, he figured out a way to make it transactional, to monetize it. And you, his little Duma, let him hijack the country's 250th anniversary and sell access, hide his donors, and rewrite history. You let him clean house and put loyalists on the board of the National Park Foundation, open the door to foreign dark money donors to buy influence with zero oversight. They are raising untold sums that Trump is bragging he's going to use for vanity projects like the 250-foot Arc de Trump, whatever that is. They've siphoned off $100 million of taxpayer money to bankroll propaganda as the administration replaces the real story of our history with a whitewashed fantasy. The horror of slavery, the Native American genocide—all that is out. Censorship and gauzy Christian nationalism written by PragerU is in. In Philadelphia, the birthplace of our nation, the Park Service has censored out historical references to slavery in the only memorial on federal land funded by Congress to honor enslaved individuals. That's not patriotism; it's cowardice. We should honor the 250th anniversary of America by telling the truth. And maybe if we did that, it would jar some of you folks into remembering the oath you swore to uphold for the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. I now recognize the chairman for the full committee, Mr. Westerman, for his five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Gosar, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today. It was on July the 3rd, 1776, that John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail in which he said, "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forevermore." This year marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when the United States became a free democratic republic. And with that, we can look back and see that President Adams had the foresight to predict what has become a time-honored tradition for our nation, even if he was off by two days, celebrating Independence Day. When we think about the 4th of July, it's not just about fireworks and apple pie, but also our rich shared history and all the breathtaking landscapes across our nation. America's public lands serve as a space where we not only recreate but also learn about the histories that bring us together as a nation. Volunteers, nonprofits, and foundations are an essential part of maintaining these public spaces as we know them today. Understanding the immense potential of public-private partnerships at many points in our history, Congress had the foresight to charter organizations to supplement the work of federal agencies like the National Park Service and the Forest Service. In addition to the congressionally chartered organization, there are numerous nonprofits around the country, like the Friends of Hot Springs National Park in my hometown, who work tirelessly to support the natural and cultural resources of the park. Local groups like these, as well as our larger national organizations, which are both here today, provide not only funds but their sweat equity and investments in some of America's most treasured spaces. These groups have contributed to critical projects and research across all 50 states and territories, bringing in resources and engaging volunteers to maximize the impact of taxpayer dollars. Our public lands are full of national treasures that tell the story of our unique American heritage, stories that should be protected and celebrated as we honor those who have made our country great since its founding 250 years ago. This is an important moment not only to look back at our shared history but to look ahead for what we can achieve together. This committee has a long history of doing good work for the American people and public lands, and I look forward to continuing that tradition with my colleagues here in the room today. As we continue to celebrate America's 250th with unique events both here in the Capitol and around the nation, may we all both enjoy and continue to learn from our shared past as we continue to look ahead for the future. Thank you again for being here, and I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. I now recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, Miss Dexter, for her five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This hearing is about a choice that should be simple in a democracy: whether America's 250th birthday belongs to the American people or whether it will be sold to the highest bidder. That is what Freedom 250 was designed to do. It was built to do three things: one, sell access to our government; two, hide the identities of the donors in this pay-to-play scam; and three, use the proceeds to pay for un-American propaganda that whitewashes and erases history. During today's hearing, we will do the kind of oversight my Republican colleagues refuse to do, so that the American people know what this administration has been caught doing so far. First, Freedom 250 sells access. According to Freedom 250's own pitch deck, Freedom 250 is literally selling VIP treatment at the nation's birthday party, and the price tag tells you everything. For half a million dollars, donors get VIP access and speaking roles at events. At $2.5 million, donors get a private meeting and a photo op with Donald Trump. That is what Freedom 250 is all about. If you can pay, you get the microphone, the spotlight, and the president's ear. Meanwhile, the Americans otherwise get to watch from behind a velvet rope. Second, Freedom 250 overtly conceals the donors in this pay-to-play scam. Freedom 250 was formed as a limited liability company, an LLC. That alone should set off alarms. An LLC is built for control and concealment, not public accountability. LLCs don't have to disclose donations. Since Freedom 250 has to pass its donations through the National Park Foundation, they are subject to NPF's disclosure requirements. But NPF's donor disclosure requirements were meant to facilitate donations to help specific projects in our national parks. They are not designed to handle donations when the president sells access to himself to fund vanity projects and to fund the whitewashing of history. The result is that donations can be made in secret; they can accept foreign money as long as it's labeled "for the parks." This leaves us all guessing which one of Donald Trump's billionaire buddies and which foreign interests are buying access. When the source of money is hidden, we have no idea who is paying for Donald Trump's monument to himself, the 250-foot Arc de Triomphe or Trump, and the White House ballroom, and even the Trump-branded golf course in Washington, D.C. Hiding the flow of money means we never get to know whether he is selling more than access to his donors. Third, Freedom 250 pays for propaganda. If you want to see what Freedom 250 is doing, all you have to do is look at the receipts. A federal award for more than $10 million is already funding six "Freedom Trucks," which are rolling platforms carrying Freedom 250 programming nationwide. And this administration is not treating Freedom 250 like a private group on the sidelines. The Department of the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, has directed staff to treat Freedom 250 as the lead partner. Federal employees have even been told to use the Freedom 250 logo in their email signatures. Freedom 250 is also spending its money on pushing Christian nationalist propaganda. Just look at what Freedom 250 is promoting. It is planning events that turn public spaces like the National Mall into a stage for a religious rally branded as part of the national anniversary. Its own materials say, "Our rights come not from the government, but from God," and even suggest worship night programming with scripture readings. The problem is not religion; Americans are free to worship as they choose. The problem is that the administration is using taxpayer funds to promote any religion at all, let alone one religion over others. This is dangerous because once you turn a nonpartisan celebration of the 250th birthday into a partisan dark money messaging machine, then it becomes easier, almost inevitable, to censor the parts of American history that don't flatter the brand, to erase what is inconvenient, and to replace complex truth with simple propaganda. You stop telling the full truth about slavery. You downplay the forced removal of indigenous peoples. You strip climate change from the places where Americans go to learn real science. Freedom 250 doesn't celebrate the country; it censors it. Mr. Chairman, today Democrats will address what Republicans won't. We'll talk about whitewashing of our history. We'll talk about signs of honoring enslaved individuals being ripped from the President's House National Park in Philadelphia. We'll talk about signs at the Grand Canyon being taken down because they mention the forced displacement of Native Americans, and we'll show the American people how Freedom 250 makes this possible. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank the gentlewoman, and I'm now going to introduce our witnesses. First, we have Mr. Jeff Reinbold, President and CEO, National Park Foundation, Washington, D.C. Now I'm going to get this one right now: Mr. Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl, President and CEO, National Forest Foundation, Missoula, Montana. Wow. For a hillbilly like me, that's a pretty tough word. Mr. Jeff Trandahl, Executive Director and CEO, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Washington, D.C. Mr. Tim Whitehouse, Executive Director, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Silver Spring, Maryland. Ms. I Ling Thompson, CEO, Foundation for America’s Public Lands, Washington, D.C. Ms. Emily Chiles, Director of Development, the Shenandoah National Park Trust, Charlottesville, Virginia. And Mr. Alan Spears, Director for the Cultural Resources National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, D.C. I now will have—I will leave the final witness to the gentleman from his district. I recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Wittman, for the next introduction.

Well, thank you, Chairman Gosar. I have the distinct honor of introducing Will Glasco from Preservation Virginia. Will has done a great job there, Chairman Gosar. I appreciate the opportunity. Preservation Virginia jointly administers historic Jamestown in Virginia's First Congressional District, a treasure trove of history behind the foundation of this nation. And I'm grateful for Mr. Glasco in traveling all the way from the first district here today to reflect on the important aspects of remembering and in promoting the history of this nation. So thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.

Great. Good morning, Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, members of the committee. My name is Jeff Reinbold. I am privileged to be the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Park Foundation. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about the role that the National Park Foundation plays in supporting our national parks and celebrating our nation's 250th anniversary. Our national parks are uniquely American. They embody the bold democratic ideal set down by our founders 250 years ago. Our nation's history is told through these parks and historic sites, making them central to this year's celebrations. But the parks are also a gift, passed down to us by those who saw beyond their own time and took it upon themselves to help protect the most special places in our nation. To carry on this legacy, Congress created the National Park Foundation in 1967. We have served as the trusted nonprofit and philanthropic partner of the National Park Service under every presidential administration and Congress for nearly 60 years. Today we generate charitable support and cultivate partnerships to create direct impact in parks, and that support is growing at an unprecedented rate. In the first quarter of fiscal year '26 alone, nearly 140,000 donors across this country have given nearly $20 million to support parks. And to commemorate the 250th anniversary, the National Park Foundation is committed to raising $250 million for parks this year. This builds on the $1 billion that the Foundation has already raised since 2019 through its Campaign for National Parks. But in addition, partners across the country have joined with us to raise an additional $3.5 billion for parks. The National Park Foundation leverages these dollars to have an exponential and direct impact in parks. We work closely with the National Park Service to ensure donations go to the best use possible. We support critical park infrastructure needs, we invest in innovation, and we connect kids and veterans to parks through transformative experiences. To ensure America's national parks thrive this year and for the decades to come, we are supporting reauthorization of the Great American Outdoors Act's Legacy Restoration Fund to repair, revitalize, and modernize park infrastructure and spur philanthropic support. At sites like the bathhouses at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas to the First Bank of the United States at Independence National Historical Park in Pennsylvania, we have provided more than $45 million for the refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial, which has helped create an amazing 15,000-square-foot exhibition space under the memorial, and that will open later this year. We're contributing $40 million to address employee housing needs at Yellowstone National Park and developing creative housing solutions for parks across the country, including at Acadia National Park. We created Freedom 250 at the request of the National Park Service to assist the Service in the execution of events and programs in and around park sites to celebrate the 250th anniversary. We're supporting the reimagining of the entrance to North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park to honor the great champion of conservation and the national park idea. And we're helping hundreds of thousands of young Americans visit and appreciate their parks each year through our Open Outdoors for Kids program. This moment means a lot to me personal. I dedicated my career to national parks, including 30-plus years working with the National Park Service, working for the National Park Service, and most recently serving as the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks. In preparation for the 250th, funding from the National Park Foundation and the Legacy Restoration Fund made it possible for us to renovate the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and rebuild the crumbling Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park seawalls. Now I am proud to lead the National Park Foundation, and especially to be part of marking this milestone and ensuring our most treasured spaces, our national parks, continue to be, as Wallace Stegner said, "America's best idea." Thank you again for the invitation to testify today, for your support of our national parks. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Mr. Reinbold. Now we recognize Mr. Fenkart-Froeschl—hopefully I got it close—for his five minutes.

Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, Chairman Westerman, always great to see you, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. It is truly an honor to be here. Let me start by saying that our forests are the greatest gifts that we've received from the past and the greatest gift we can leave for the future. My name is Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl, and I serve as the President and CEO of the National Forest Foundation. The National Forest Foundation is the congressionally chartered nonprofit partner of the United States Forest Service. We exist to deliver on-the-ground impact on behalf of the millions of Americans who treasure our national forests and grasslands. Congress created the National Forest Foundation in 1990 with a simple but powerful idea: bring public and private partners together to care for 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands. Our mission is to transform America's love of nature into action for our national forests, and we focus on three evergreen priorities: wildfire resilience, land and watershed restoration, and recreation. We are national in scope, local in practice, and generational in impact. We bring national resources to local communities. We work side-by-side with the Forest Service and local contractors, and we deliver projects that reduce wildfire risk, restore landscapes, and strengthen rural economies. And Americans overwhelmingly support this work. A recent poll found that 87 percent of Americans believe conserving and managing forests is key to America's future. And NFF delivers on that promise every day. In 2025 alone, we advanced more than 400 projects across 100 national forests, deploying $115 million in impact at a 91 percent impact ratio. And over the past 20 years, we've leveraged our federally appropriated—our federal appropriations with private philanthropy at a six-to-one ratio, meaning every dollar appropriated to the National Forest Foundation is matched with six dollars in private investment. That partnership has delivered real measurable outcomes. We've planted 56 million trees, treated 1.9 million acres to reduce wildfire risk, restored 1 million acres for watersheds and wildlife, and improved 41,000 miles of trails for the 170 million Americans who visit national forests every year. Those numbers matter, but they truly come to— ...to life on the ground. For example, on the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon, the foundation partnered with the Forest Service to rebuild the Trillium Lake Boardwalk, protecting sensitive wetlands while improving access for the 1,000,000 visitors to Mount Hood National Forest. In Arizona, the Tonto National Forest welcomed 6,000,000 visitors, and the National Forest Foundation and local partners restored 60 miles of the Highline Trail, supporting hikers, bikers, and horseback riders while helping elevate pace in Arizona as a premier recreation destination. Across both projects, the National Forest Foundation provided half of the project funding, leveraging federal dollars to maximize impact. And this is what public-private partnerships look like in practice. We multiply taxpayer dollars, we speed delivery, and we build long-term stewardship with local communities. As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, this model becomes even more important. America250 is not just a celebration; it is a moment of reinvestment. Using America250 as a springboard over the next five years, the National Forest Foundation and our partners will invest $250,000,000 each in wildfire resilience, land and watershed restoration, and recreation improvements. And alongside this work, the Forest Service's Forest 250 initiative will engage Americans through storytelling, local events, and hands-on service, with NFF amplifying these efforts through national storytelling and community-based campaigns. In closing, the National Forest Foundation is proud to work with Congress, the Forest Service under the talented leadership of Chief Tom Tidwell, with local communities, and with private partners to make the generational investments that ensure national forests and grasslands remain resilient and accessible for the next 250 years. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

I thank the gentleman for his testimony. I now recognize Mr. Trandahl for his five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Chairman Westerman and Ms. Dexter, for the opportunity to testify on the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's role in advancing public-private partnerships that conserve America's lands and waters. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and respect the work of the committee in stewarding our nation's natural resources and wildlife. As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, this milestone invites reflection on our shared responsibility to steward the landscapes that define our national identity, support our economy, and sustain our communities. Public-private partnerships are essential to that stewardship, and NFWF was created by Congress to help make those partnerships effective, transparent, and impactful. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is an independent congressionally chartered nonprofit established in 1984 with a clear mandate to work with the public and private partners to advance practical, voluntary conservation solutions. NFWF was created in 1984 at a time very similar to today, as we manage reductions in workforce, reductions in federal spending, and efforts to recreate the way many things are done in the federal government. The idea was to create public-private partnerships between the federal government and philanthropy to expand conservation work by creating NFWF. Since our founding, NFWF has invested $12,000,000,000 in conservation across the country in nearly 24,000 projects. In the last year alone, NFWF has awarded $590,000,000 in grants leveraged by more than $325,000,000 in matching funds to generate more than $925,000,000 in total conservation impact, a result that then creates more than 60,000 jobs across America. We purposely do this work quietly, but also while highlighting our funders, grantees, and the communities where we work. To us, it's not about getting credit, but the idea of getting on-the-ground conservation done. By leveraging non-federal investment and supporting locally driven solutions, NFWF helps ensure conservation remains cost-effective, durable, measurable, and broadly supported by communities and stakeholders. Today, NFWF works with 13 federal partners and more than 65 corporations and philanthropic partners, funding projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories. Since 1984, NFWF has supported voluntary collaborative conservation across public and private lands managed by federal agencies, states, tribes, local governments, nonprofits, and private landowners. Our grants complement federal agency missions by restoring habitats, supporting species recovery, strengthening watersheds, and managing for wildlife, drought, and natural disasters. This collaborative approach reflects a core principle of America's conservation legacy. Enduring success depends on shared investment, voluntary participation, and respect for the people who live and work on these lands. NFWF's programs illustrate how pooling federal and private resources can achieve conservation outcomes at scale. Examples of programs that we run: the Western Big Game Seasonal Habitat and Migration Corridors that supports voluntary actions to protect and restore migration corridors and seasonal habitats for elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and other species. The program addresses habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and barriers to wildlife movement on public lands. Projects include rangelands restoration and wildlife-friendly fencing on BLM and Forest Service lands. Similarly, the Great Plains program that we run advances conservation across the nation's most iconic grasslands landscape through partnerships with the federal agencies, tribes, ranchers, and local communities as well. Since 2016, the program has funded more than 185 projects, awarding more than $82,000,000 in grants and leveraging matching funds to generate more than $175,000,000 in total conservation impact and investing on more than 4,100 ranches. Projects have restored and protected tens of thousands of acres of prairie habitat, improved habitat connectivity, and supported conservation easements to keep working lands productive while benefiting wildlife and rural economies. NFWF supports conservation on the National Wildlife Refuge System as well, in conjunction with the Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the past two decades, NFWF has awarded more than $99,000,000 matched by an additional $60,000,000 in non-federal funds to support habitat restoration, community engagement, and visitor services on refuges nationwide. These investments enhance habitat, expand educational opportunities, and strengthen public access to the refuges.

Can we wrap this up, please? You're a minute over.

Okay. Sorry, sir. I was just going to thank McDonald's and Walmart as well who have made a $1,000,000,000 investment on the Walmart side and a $200,000,000 commitment just this year with McDonald's. Again, I just want to say the 250th anniversary gives us a very, very unique opportunity to really reinforce what all of us here at the table do, which is to bring private investment.

That's good. I appreciate the gentleman for his testimony. I now recognize Mr. Whitehouse for his testimony. I thank the gentleman for his testimony. I now recognize Ms. Thompson for her five minutes. I thank the gentlelady for her testimony. I now recognize Ms. Chiles for her five minutes. I thank the gentlelady for her testimony. I now recognize Mr. Spears for his five minutes.

Good morning. Chairman Westerman, Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, my name is Alan Spears. I'm the Senior Director for Cultural Resources at the Government Affairs Department of the National Parks Conservation Association. NPCA is the leading national independent voice for protecting and enhancing America's National Park System for present and future generations, and we very much appreciate the opportunity to be here today and testify before this committee at this well-timed hearing as the country is speeding towards the 250th anniversary of America's independence from Great Britain. On July 4, 2026, NPCA staff, myself included, will join with millions of Americans and others from around the globe to mark the anniversary of America's independence from Great Britain. That one event has had a profound impact on the course of human history and deserves robust commemoration. The National Park Service, the nation's leading storyteller, should play a mighty role in creating the 250th commemoration, one that inspires the public and connects or reconnects Americans with their history. Unfortunately, the agency has been undermined by staff reductions and ongoing efforts to soften or sanitize the interpretation national parks provide. Strong public-private partnerships will help, but they will not fully make up for or resolve these shortcomings and challenges. In the year 2025 alone, the National Park Service lost 25 percent of its permanent workforce. That's about 4,000 people. Many were career professionals with deep experience in cultural resource management, ethnography, museum collections, and history. At the very moment that this country most needs these experts to enhance public understanding of our shared national narrative, they have left the service due to mass layoffs, government efficiencies, and deferred resignations. A federal hiring freeze has further restricted the ability of the Park Service and other federal agencies from filling critical positions. And the morale of the staff that are left is subterranean. That such drastic reductions in staff have happened during the run-up to the commemoration of a major milestone in this nation's history makes those losses more perceptible and tragic. And we fear that more RIFs may be coming to the agency in this fiscal year. Congress must understand that there is simply no more fat left to cut. As we approach the 250th anniversary of America's independence, NPCA asks that Congress take steps to restore these 4,000 vacant positions and enable the agency to fulfill its preservation and conservation mandate and help lead the nation towards a truly superlative 250th anniversary commemoration. Our national parks must also contend with the pressure to soften, sanitize, and erase the history that they interpret and preserve. While some believe in the call to restore truth and sanity to American history, NPCA sees things differently. That in fact, this effort weakens the 30 years of progress towards the creation of a National Park System that was more representative of the true face of America, that our national parks are there by and for the people. That progress is now under threat. From QR codes that encourage park visitors to tattle on government employees about overtly left or liberal interpretation to the lists of potentially offensive materials that interior leadership demanded from park managers and superintendents that they fill out and turn in, to the recent actions taken by the Park Service to remove installations about enslaved people from Independence Hall and the President's House. We are seeing an effort to strong-arm NPS interpretation into a realm where it ignores or sanitizes the contributions and struggles of far too many Americans. And it must be noted that it certainly appears that women, black and brown people, indigenous, and LGBTQ people are bearing the brunt of this censorship. It is the grave concern of the National Parks Conservation Association that the National Park Service is distorting the telling of accurate, inclusive, and truthful history, that this will adversely impact the ability of the agency to connect with some Americans, far too many we fear, who will choose to disassociate from their national parks and their history and this great anniversary. We urge Congress to restore NPS staffing levels by filling those 4,000 vacant positions and to oppose ongoing efforts to sanitize or erase American history as it's told in our national parks. We are citizens of a nation with a fascinating, diverse, and complex history. We need the leadership of the National Park Service unimpaired to help us enhance our understanding of our shared experiences. And when it comes to American history, we want the full story because yes, we can handle the truth. Thank you.

I thank the gentleman for his testimony. I now recognize Mr. Glasco for his five minutes.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, it's truly an honor to be here today. I'm Will Glasco, the CEO of Preservation Virginia, the nation's oldest statewide historic preservation nonprofit. First, I'd like to thank Congressman Wittman for having us here today and inviting us to participate on this panel and for his steadfast support of our efforts at Jamestown and our preservation efforts overall. I'd also like to recognize Congressman Scott for being here today, and sir, we really appreciate you representing Virginia as well. Founded in 1889, we help save historic sites around the Commonwealth of Virginia for future generations. We advocate for preservation policy in all levels of government and consult on preservation projects as well. We've found that connecting people to places is the best way to connect to the past. And we welcome visitors from across the country and the world each year. We're... ...in the unique position of operating six historic sites open to the public. Those include Scotchtown, the home of Patrick Henry where he wrote his famous "Give me liberty" speech; the John Marshall House where Chief Justice Marshall cemented the judiciary as the third and equal branch of government; Smith's Fort, which was a location of a farm that was purchased by formerly enslaved individuals during Reconstruction; Bacon's Castle, the nation's oldest brick house built in 1665; the Cape Henry Lighthouse, which was the first federal works project after the ratification of the Constitution; and Jamestown, where it all began in 1607. Both Cape Henry Lighthouse and our site at Jamestown are surrounded by federal lands, and we partner with these federal agencies to provide access to the public, which is critical. We're always looking for additional opportunities to enhance our cooperation with our federal partners to advance this shared mission. Jamestown was one of the first sites that we acquired back in 1893, and since we launched our Jamestown Rediscovery archaeological project in 1994, our world-renowned team has uncovered over 5 million artifacts from around the site. We share this information relating to the founding of the United States with the broader public. We maintain a unique partnership with the National Park Service to allow guests to visit our 25 acres in the heart of Jamestown Island and are surrounded by about 1,500 acres which are stewarded by our friends at the National Park Service. We share facilities, research, and public programs together. Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in Virginia Beach was acquired by us from the federal government by an act of Congress in 1930, so we appreciate that. At the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, our lighthouse is on Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. Through a partnership with the military, the city of Virginia Beach, and Preservation Virginia, guests are allowed access to this lighthouse through a shuttle bus system following a security screening. We also provide special events and programs for military families and provide outreach to local schools. Cape Henry is famous for several reasons. It was a location where John Smith and 103 settlers first came ashore in 1607, and it's also the location of the famous Battle of the Capes in 1781, which drove off a British resupply fleet and helped secure victory at Yorktown. At Jamestown, we're grateful for an America250 semiquincentennial grant to help preserve and interpret the original statehouse on Jamestown Island. After the capital was moved to Williamsburg in 1699, the statehouse fell into disrepair, but we're preserving this site to commemorate the first representative governing body in North America. In our case, we have another significant anniversary to commemorate this year. 2026 also marks the 350th anniversary of Bacon's Rebellion, which some have called the first American Revolution. To commemorate these two anniversaries, we're partnering with local institutions like Virginia Humanities, the College of William & Mary, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. We're also grateful for the partnership of several federally recognized Native American tribes in Virginia, including the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, Rappahannock Indian Tribe, and Nottoway Indian Tribe. Strategic partnerships with other organizations help spread the weight of costs and elevate these programs through coordinated marketing campaigns. Financially, we're a three-legged stool. Our budget is made up of donations, earned income through ticket sales, and an endowment which we continue to grow. We do rely heavily on private fundraising. We also partner closely with Virginia's official State Historic Preservation Office, the Department of Historic Resources. Through the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, each state is mandated to carry out initiatives like the Section 106 review process and reviews of nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. We assist the department in their work, as 20 percent of their budget does come from the federal government through the Historic Preservation Fund. And quickly, I'd like to touch on the Historic Preservation Fund is the federal government's main vehicle for supporting preservation work. It's absolutely critical. In addition to help fund state historic preservation offices, it also helps with grant programs like Save America's Treasures. With Preservation Virginia, we're not just educating at one museum or even at one locality. We cover the entire state, the state where it all began. Thank you so much.

I thank the gentleman for his testimony. I thank all the panelists for your testimony. I'm now going to recognize members for their questions. I'm going to recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Wittman, for your questions.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. I thank all of our panelists today. Great overview of the great opportunity we have here with America250. Will, thank you, and I want to go to you first. The efforts that are taking place there with both Preservation Virginia, as you outlined, and also Rediscovery Jamestown are incredible in making sure that we are highlighting the history of our nation that has occurred there and not just what has traditionally been unearthed, but also additional opportunities there. And as I had a chance to visit there recently and look at some of the additional archaeological digs and getting more information, it's astounding to me that there's even more to discover there after 350 years plus of that site being highlighted and made available to the public. Give us your perspective on some of the things that are happening there and what you're discovering, but also the things that are enabled by your partnership, your public-private partnership there, being a property sort of surrounded by both the federal government and the National Park Service, but also the state of Virginia that has the property next door. So if you could give us a perspective there about how that public-private partnership has really enabled what you do and then, too, what you're doing to continue to bring alive that site as it relates to this nation's history.

Sure. Yes, sir. Thank you so much, Congressman Wittman. So we are in a unique position in that we are a private property owner surrounded by the National Park Service. That relationship, again, is very key. I think we both bring a lot to the table in terms of educating the public about the foundings of the United States. Jamestown is a little different in that we predate 1776 and the 250th by quite a bit with the founding in 1607. However, really the seeds of representative democracy were planted at Jamestown. So with our friends at the Park Service, the idea is to create programming that basically demonstrates that Jamestown is where it all began. However, it did influence the founders in the 1700s during the American Revolution as well. We know of the actual church location where the Virginia General Assembly first met in 1619, which was the first representative government in North America. So as part of the 250th, we are creating projects and programs around that site in particular and the statehouse ruins which I mentioned in my remarks. We call it Virginia's first capital trail that links the church where the assembly met with the first statehouse that they built. And again, these ideas had a lot of influence on the American Revolution 150 years later. I think with the National Park Service, it helps in that with a private entity like us, we can be nimble and quick in our archaeological investigations and some of the research that we do. At the same time, that larger support of the Park Service and what they bring to the table has been really helpful for us through the decades as we communicate this history to the larger public. I will say back in 2007 for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, we saw a huge increase in attendance that year and a really healthy back-and-forth partnership with the National Park Service to accommodate all of those visitors. We're certainly hoping for a big year coming up here, Congressman Wittman, and are ready for the increase in guests that we hope to see.

Yeah, I think it's a great opportunity. Tell us, too, you're doing a lot to make sure that we conserve that great property there. And tell us what you're doing to work with the Park Service and the regional governments there as far as it relates to the tidal environment. And we all know that environment's very dynamic with subsidence, that is, the coastal plain sort of sinking. That's just part of geology. But then also what we do with higher tides and storm events and those things that have had an impact there on the site.

Yeah, absolutely. The flooding does seem to be getting worse on Jamestown Island, and we're trying to identify ways to sort of stave off that recurrent flooding in future years. As for our local community partners, including the National Park Service, we have worked on joint exhibits and programming together, again, to better share that story with a larger public. But I think specifically with the flooding events, I mean, we're looking at essentially having to construct berms, pump stations. You know, when it comes to an archaeological site, it's hard to dig in the water. So we want to try to drive that site out as much as we can to continue that archaeological research and work. We have had strategic partnerships with the National Park Service in the past to actually do research on their lands as well. We've worked out cooperative agreements where we could actually do research, do archaeological investigations on property that we don't own. We think that mutually benefits both organizations in that we can share that research with the federal government through the Park Service while at the same time having access to lands that really aren't in our portfolio. So we've seen that kind of cooperation.

Listen, thanks so much, Will. I think the key word is access. We want to make sure what you're doing there enhances that access so not only do they have the experience to celebrate America250, but also the experience in years after that. Thanks again. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. The gentlewoman from Arizona, Ms. Grijalva, is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Department of the Interior recently directed staff at the Grand Canyon National Park to remove signage describing the forced removal of indigenous peoples. This was not a neutral administrative change; it was a choice to obscure a painful, consequential chapter of American history. Native communities have stewarded these lands since time immemorial and maintained deep cultural and spiritual ties to the Grand Canyon, yet this policy diminishes their presence and distorts the truth presented to the public. Just two years ago, President Biden designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting nearly 1 million acres of land sacred to tribal nations. That designation reflected a commitment to honoring indigenous stewardship and ensuring their history would no longer be ignored. My father worked alongside tribal leaders for years to help secure these protections. The current administration's actions now directly contradict those commitments. By removing references to forced removal at the Grand Canyon and other national parks, this administration undermines the purpose of these protections and sends a message that indigenous history can be treated as optional when it becomes politically inconvenient. I'm deeply troubled by the harm this policy causes. Erasing indigenous history erases the foundational role of indigenous people and the role they play in the story of the Grand Canyon. It misleads the public, it violates federal trust and responsibility. Our national parks must be places of truth and accountability, not sites of historical amnesia. Mr. Spears, what responsibility does Congress have to ensure that historically accurate narratives, including those of tribal nations, are protected and consistently presented across our national parks?

Congresswoman, thank you for the question. I think that Congress has a big role to play in terms of helping the Park Service to get to a point where they can tell the truth without fear of retribution from the administration or from politically appointed leaders that are in the administration right now. You know very well that many of our national parks sit on tribal homelands and ancestral territory. So long before they were national parks, they were someone's home. And I think what we've seen over the last 30 years is the National Park Service and other federal land management agencies and some of the agencies that are represented here working to develop reciprocal, respectful relations with tribes and indigenous people to help tell those stories and to daylight that history. So what we're seeing right now is especially tragic because it's taking that progress that's been made over the last 30 years, as imperfect as it was, as unfinished as it was, and throwing it out the window.

Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Reinbold, will you commit to providing this committee a list of all donors routed through NPF and the amount they donated and updated weekly? Yes or no?

Thank you for the question. Is that specific to the 250th?

Yes. And well, actually, I think we can broaden it for this question specifically to 250, but if willing to work through that, then I think it would be helpful for us to understand all of the private contributions.

So the National Park Foundation has an initiative to raise $250 million for the 250th. We follow our normal procedures on raising funds for those. They will be acknowledged in our annual reports as usual. The foundation is not raising money for any of the Freedom 250 efforts.

Hmm. And so one follow-up question, Mr. Spears. The National Park Service is entrusted to preserve and present the full American story. In your view, does the removal of indigenous history from park interpretation and signage undermine the integrity and credibility of the National Park Service?

It does substantially. And I would just like to add that it is not our colleagues in the National Park Service that are responsible for this; it's leadership. So I imagine that many people who are taking down signs on a regular basis, unfortunately at this point in time, are then going into their offices or back rooms and crying.

Thank you. Thank you. I yield back.

I thank the gentlewoman. The gentlewoman from Utah, Ms. Maloy, is recognized for her five minutes.

Thank you. I want to thank all of our panelists for being here. I'm really excited about America's 250th birthday coming up on July 4, and if you've followed any of my social media, you know that, and if you don't follow, you should. But the reason I'm so excited is because we have a chance this year to celebrate the things that unite us as Americans. And at a time when we tend to talk a lot about the things that divide us, the things that unite us are the lofty ideals that are written down and signed in our Declaration of Independence, and that's what we're celebrating the 250th birthday of, and what ended up being in our Constitution. That's what makes us Americans. We don't have a common heritage, we don't have a shared religion, we're scattered over a large continent. And some of my ancestors came here on the Mayflower; on the other side of my family, some of my ancestors were already here when the Mayflower landed. The rest of them made their way here over the years. And those are the kind of stories I hope we're hearing through America250. But I hope we're also taking the time this year to celebrate those of us that are here, how we connect with our history, how we plan for our future, and what it means to us to be Americans. So, Mr. Reinbold, I introduced the STARS Act. It's H.R. 4285. It's passed the House, it's pending in the Senate, and it would waive entrance fees and recreation fees across the Park Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Rec, and Forest Service sites on September 17 of this year, on Constitution Day, to give Americans a chance to go connect with our history, our land, to get out and be part of what is America. How is NPF preparing to leverage that fee-free day to drive engagement, support the national parks, and get people out taking advantage of this opportunity?

Great. Thank you for the question and for taking the initiative on that. The National Park Foundation works incredibly closely with the National Park Service to find out what are the ways that we can take opportunities like that to encourage more people to come and also to support their parks. Fortunately, we have a partnership with over 400 nonprofit groups on the ground, some national, to amplify that locally. My colleague from the Shenandoah National Park Trust here, that's where a lot of this work happens. And one of the things that the foundation does is raise money nationally so we can move it to parks and their partners on the ground to expand programming, do special activities around those days.

Okay. Thank you. Ms. Thompson, FAPL's mission focuses on connecting people to public lands today and for generations to come, which I really appreciate. How are you using America250 to reach people who don't already know that and strengthen the public's connection to our lands and our shared heritage?

Thank you for the question, Congresswoman. I consider every single opportunity that we have to move money to much-needed communities to invest in their public lands and bring their vision to life is our opportunity to tell the story and to really help them connect to their public lands. I'm pleased that we've gotten $11.5 million and 50 projects out in our first two years. We're looking forward to going much farther as we have more time and more partnerships developed.

And thank you for the projects you're doing in my part of the country. With that, I will yield back.

I thank the gentlewoman from Utah. The gentleman from California, the ranking member for the full committee, Mr. Huffman, is recognized for his five minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. What you will see behind me in a moment are panels from the President's House, a site in Philadelphia, and it's from an exhibit entitled "The Dirty Business of Slavery." They were these panels created by the National Park Service, not by some grifting LLC, but by the National Park Service itself to tell the truth about slavery in this country and the nine enslaved people George Washington held in bondage while serving as our president, a complicated fact of our history. Now, under Donald Trump's censorship order, panels like these have been targeted for removal from federal sites across the country. Mr. Spears, the panel uses one word in particular, "stolen," when describing how slaves were kidnapped and brought to America in chains. And the Trump administration says language like that is just too harsh, it's just too darn negative, and so it's been targeted for censorship. What does it mean historically when the government removes a word like "stolen" from the record of how enslaved people even came to this country?

Congressman, what it does is soften the history, to make it bloodless, to make it painless. "Stolen" is an entirely accurate way of describing what happened to people of African descent on a variety of locations on the African continent. Nobody came here as a volunteer on one of those slave ships. So the idea is how can we help the National Park Service and communities to interpret history in ways that are accurate, just, and inclusive? And when you take down signs like that and when you begin picking at words to soften and sanitize, to erase the history, that is a dangerous precipice to be on because I think one of the quickest ways that you can disappear a people is to disappear their story or to soften it, and that's exactly what's happening here.

Yeah. Thank you. Now, George Washington was a great man, but like many of our founders, he was full of contradictions when it came to things like freedom and liberty. And this panel also tells the story of Pennsylvania's gradual abolition law and how Washington actually gamed the system by rotating his slaves between Philadelphia and Virginia in order to avoid triggering the provisions of that gradual abolition law. What does that tell us about slavery in the founding era if we're going to just tell the truth about our history, and what do we lose when our government censors stuff like that?

So, Congressman, I'm a fan of complexity. And I think that history, our history, American history, our shared national narrative is deep, it's broad, it's complex. And I think organizations like the National Park Service, agencies like the Park Service do their best work when they are helping us to understand those complexities. We're sitting in a room right now, we've got a citizen-led democracy, participatory democracy because George Washington understood that that was important. At the end of his second term in Philadelphia, there were people standing next to him who said, "You know, General, we know some guys with muskets. You know some guys with muskets. We could make sure that you stay in power for as long as you want." And Washington said, "No, that's not what we want." So he gets honor for that. But we also have a guy who, as you suggested, rotated enslaved people back from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon so that they would never spend enough time in an emancipation state and they could seek their freedom through legal means. He thought about these people a lot. They were not simply footnotes, they were not simply foot servants in that household. And so there is the conundrum of our founding era. We failed to establish some kind of conclusion on the issue of slavery in this country, and it cost us deeply because it led to an incredibly bloody Civil War, 700,000 military casualties just 60, 70 years later. And I think it points to the complexity of our history. That's a story that I want to learn about. That's a story that I want to hear about and read about because walking the battlefields of that Civil War at Gettysburg and Antietam and Harpers Ferry and listening to those ranger-led talks and battlefield tours, that's what inspired my love of American history, wonder, warts, and all.

Yeah. Another part of our history that we need to be honest about and that is being hijacked right now is the secular founding of our country, the rejection of the divine right of kings, the enlightenment-based secular, non-religious essential element of our Constitution and our founding. It's all being retrofitted into this Christian nationalist narrative that would have us believe that we were meant to be a religious and Christian nation. And Pete Hegseth, of course, has, among others, has said we were founded to be a Christian nation. Mr. Spears, some of us care about church-state separation. Some of us think it's very important to defend the secular firewalls that were America's great contribution to the world. What happens when America is distorted into this notion of Christian nationalism?

Congressman, we're concerned about the nature of historic interpretation in the national parks. We're looking for things that build and expand our understanding of American history. It seems like in some instances we are seeing efforts at this point in time to restrict that and to exclude people to say that they actually didn't have a place in the founding and development of this country, and that's troubling.

Yeah. Thank you. I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. The gentlewoman from Washington is recognized, Ms. Randall. [Crosstalk.] Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. My district's in the northwest corner of Washington state, and last summer I visited the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial in my district, which stands as a reminder of the dark period when fear and prejudice overcame our nation's ideals. And it is striking to visit that memorial now in this era. On March 30, 1942, 227 men, women, and children were forcibly removed from their homes, rounded up by U.S. Army soldiers with rifles fixed with bayonets, and two-thirds of them were American citizens. This memorial was established after intense community advocacy to honor those who endured immeasurable suffering. Many of the organizers were children who were detained under that administration. The motto and the mission of the memorial is Nidoto Nai Yoni, which translates to "let it not happen again."

But what we're seeing in this administration is not only is it happening again, they are actively taking steps to facilitate the exact same actions: troops and armed federal agents deployed in our cities, rounding people up, including citizens who have not committed any crimes other than having skin that is not white. And the Trump administration is also actively trying to erase and minimize the history that they are repeating, including the documented history at the Bainbridge Island Memorial and so many others across the country while telling Americans to look away from the injustices and the mass detentions that we are seeing every day. President Trump would do well to remember what you erase from history, you risk repeating. The history of our national parks and historic sites must reflect the full breadth of our shared story and include the diverse perspectives and experiences that make this country strong. I was listening to my colleague from Utah about the things that unite us, and yes, they are our shared commitments to our Constitution, which is a practice that we must actively take to uphold every single day, but what unites us is also our history, the good and the bad. And that's why I introduced the Equal Parks Act, which would codify President Biden's memorandum on promoting diversity and inclusion in our national parks, national forests, and other public lands and waters to give legal permanence to initiatives across federal land management agencies like the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on Bainbridge Island and so many others that ensure our important historical narratives can't be whitewashed through political interference. Mr. Spears, what are the parallels of this political moment to other dark chapters of our history, and why is it so important that we continue to remember them?

Thank you for your question, Congresswoman. So I immediately in answering that or thinking about that, I go back to the period of Reconstruction in this country. And one of the last times that we had an overarching rewrite of American history was in the 1870s, 1880s. We'd just concluded a bloody Civil War. It was clear from the people who lived through that experience that that war was to save the Union and end slavery. And it resulted in the freedom, the emancipation of 4 million enslaved African Americans. And very quickly that tide turned to a point where that war was not about slavery, it was about states' rights, and we see the elevation of the Lost Cause ideology, and that ushered in 40, 50 years, several decades of some of the worst racial violence, lynching, Jim Crow, and black codes that we had ever seen in this country. So it's best not to repeat that erasure of history. And as I've shared before, I think one of the easiest ways that you disappear a people is you disappear their history first. You disappear their contributions. You disappear the fact that they're a part of this country. We are a part of this country. I'm an American, I'm a citizen, I'm a taxpayer. Every male relative in my family going back for four generations served in the military, served as first responders, served as police officers. So all we're asking at this point in time, the National Parks Conservation Association and public constituents, is that you remember that legacy for us and honor it.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I yield back.

Yeah, I'll just highlight for the gentlelady, Creighton University where I went to school was the school that stepped in on the Japanese Americans to get them to be able to stay at home. So Mr. Scott from Virginia is now recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you and the ranking member for the opportunity to participate today. And I thank all of our witnesses, particularly Mr. Glasco from Preservation Virginia. Fifteen years ago, President Obama designated Fort Monroe in my district as a national monument. And while it is clear that the land contains an historic fort, the site's significance in other history is less obvious because over 400 years ago, the first enslaved Africans in what would become the United States were forcibly brought onto the shores where the fort currently stands. The fort that exists today was built with enslaved labor in the early 1800s but became known as Fortress Freedom, a refuge of many who were enslaved and escaped during the Civil War.

...But this history is now under attack by the Trump administration. Mr. Spears, I want to thank you for your work in making Fort Monroe National Monument a reality. Could you tell us what Americans lose when sites like Fort Monroe are underfunded, neglected, or stripped of historical context? And it was an interesting legal theory he used. If there's property involved, it's a contraband of war. If you consider these people property, then we will keep them as contrabands of war and not return them. So it was an interesting legal theory and became Fortress Monroe. Now, how does preserving Black history in places like Fort Monroe strengthen our understanding of American democracy today?

Sir, I think it strengthens it because I am a fan. I'm a National Park nerd. And one of the things that we want to do for our National Parks is strengthen the constituency for these, the most significant historic, natural, cultural places on the North American landscape and beyond. One of the ways that you do that is you help people to understand that that park system is relevant to them, that it's relevant to their families, that it's relevant to their history. I love a good experience up close and personal with dynamic megafauna, so grizzly bears and bison and other things like that. There are many more people in the Black and Brown community who prefer historic and cultural connections, and that's what the Park Service ought to be able to provide during this 250th anniversary and beyond that so that people understand that they have a connection to this country that is strong and solid and that these are their public lands too.

Thank you. Now, as we've heard, it's been reported that signs discussing topics such as slavery, climate change, Native American history have been removed from at least 17 National Park sites. How has this administration targeted information to be removed?

That's a very good question, Congressman Scott. We don't know because there is no transparency in this process. The one thing I can assure you and the committee here is that they are not targeting these signs for removal because the Park Service had incorrect interpretation. They are targeting them because they feel that mention of race, racism, slavery, civil rights, labor struggles, women's history, and God forbid, anything that mentions the LGBTQ community has to go. And so there is no order or rhyme or reason to this, and it's happening at individual sites all across the country.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to participate.

I thank the gentleman from Virginia. The gentlewoman from Maine, Ms. Pingree, is now recognized for five minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you for allowing me to participate and thank you to all of the witnesses who are here today. I'm very fortunate to be here hearing a little more about this hearing and away from my usual role as the ranking member on the Interior and Environment Subcommittee of Appropriations, which is where I often see many of you because we work so closely with your foundations and really greatly appreciate the good work that you're doing. But now we're in an entirely different kind of conundrum here about this debacle, in my opinion, between America250 and Freedom250 and how the money is moving and the lack of transparency and a lot of other concerns. The concern me just as much as the taking down of signs in our National Parks, but I'm going to focus on this to begin with. So Mr. Reinbold, I really appreciate the role that you take there at the National Park Foundation as someone who works on the funding. I know how greatly we work with you and how closely we try to keep that relationship. But I am concerned about this new role that you're taking on and that Freedom250 is now a subsidiary of the National Park Foundation. So in the FY '26 Interior bill, we enacted a bill that provided $12.5 million for the National Park Foundation, and I imagine we'll be considering similar kinds of funding again. But given the challenges that are going on and that this organization by many is perceived to be peddling political propaganda and whitewashing history, how do you look at the, how do you see restoring your own organization's reputation after working with this side of what's going on right now?

Well, thank you for the support of our appropriation, I will say to start with. That is money that goes directly to parks and has a huge impact on the ground. The National Park Service came to us and asked if we could help them. They received money in the last budget to put on events in the National Parks. The Park Service does not have that expertise. The National Park Foundation was created to be able to raise money, but also to serve as a fiduciary agent. And they did not ask us to raise money for the 250th, but would we hold the federal money and then disperse it at their request? That is a function we don't do often, but we have done from time to time. And as we talked about it further, we decided that setting up a separate LLC was important so that this work was separate from the duties of the National Park Foundation. We have our own work around America250. We're trying to raise $250 million ourselves. Our staff are not contributing to this other than any direct costs of administering money. The way the arrangement is set up, the National Park Service receives the money through a cooperative agreement and specific task orders. They tell us what are the events that they intend to host or be supportive, be part of. Our role is quite honestly to serve somewhat as the banker. We hold the money, when the money comes to us, disperse it as they've requested so that it fulfills the requirements in that task order.

Well, let me just dig in a bit because I understand what you're saying, but there is a lot of controversy and concern about how this money is moving. And my understanding was there was a $14 million grant that was initially awarded to America250 for the Freedom Truck moving history display, and that in December, $10 million was de-obligated and transferred to the National Park Foundation for Freedom250 to take over this effort. So in a case like that, who makes the decision and what kind of transparency do we have? Because that does seem like money's coming out of here and going into here and that you're playing a role in that. And with a little more color, people are concerned about what's going on with that money and how it's being taken from purposes that might have been more broadly understood as part of the 250 celebration. Now it could be moved to history trucks that are very slanted, to a wrestling match at the White House, Indy 500 on the Mall, a giant arch coming into our city. It seems to me you're in the middle of all this.

This, much like the task agreement that I mentioned before, the National Park Service asked us if we would accept the money and administer it for those trucks. And so it was at their request that we accepted the money or are in the process of doing that, I should say. And would disperse it for the vehicle. So the Park Service makes the decisions on the content, on the activities, on any of the events, and then they ask us to pull from the money that has been given to us to pay for those activities.

I'm just going to say it's going to be very hard to see that all from the outside given the lack of transparency that we have. I am going to run out of time, but Mr. Whitehouse, do you have any comment on how difficult it is to see how that money is being spent?

Yes, unfortunately we have to piece together things from press reports. The message I want to have about Freedom250 is that there's no transparency, there's no oversight, and there's no accountability, and there's mixing of taxpayer and private dollars and it appears to be for purely partisan purposes.

Thank you and I yield back my time.

I thank the gentlewoman. The chairman of the full committee, Mr. Westerman, is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Gosar. Again, thank you to the witnesses for being here as we are already in our 250th year celebration when we look at, as we look forward to July 4th and all the activities that will be around that. You know, as I've listened to comments and testimony in this hearing today, I noticed that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle with really with a tone and context of what I would call disgust and sounding the alarm for the American people made some noteworthy comments. Even had the transcript pulled on some of these. One comment was, even the soaring achievement of our secular enlightenment-based founding is obscured by Christian nationalist fiction. So I've got a question and there's so many of you, I'm just going to ask you to raise your hand if you think our founding is based on the soaring achievement of secular enlightenment. If you think that on the panel. So our founding was based on the soaring achievement of our secular enlightenment. Okay, so we have some folks that believe that. Another comment that was made, well let me ask you this. How many of you think our Declaration of Independence is an important document when it comes to our founding?

[Witnesses raise hands.]

Okay, we can all agree on that. One comment that was made says, F250 is spending money on events turning public spaces like the National Mall into a stage for a religious rally branded as part of the national anniversary. Its own material says, our rights come not from the government but from God. So that's supposedly some propaganda that's being put out. I'll ask the panel, how many of you believe your rights come from the government?

[No hands raised.]

How many of you believe your rights come from God?

[Witnesses raise hands.]

How many of you don't know where your rights come from?

[No hands raised.]

Does anybody believe your rights come from the government?

[No hands raised.]

Does anybody believe your rights come from God?

[Witnesses raise hands.]

Does anybody know what our founders said in the Declaration of Independence when they said, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now I ask you again, how many of you think as Americans your rights come from the government? How many of you think your rights come from God? Oh, we got a few takers now. Well, I challenge you before July 4th to maybe reflect on where our rights come from and the idea that our founders had this great idea that these rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness don't come from government because if government bestowed those rights, guess what? Government can take those away. And I think that's what our founders believed when they made that very profound statement. And by the way, at the end of that document, I think they said something along the lines of, we pledge our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor. So they were willing to die on the fact that they made this statement to the most powerful person in the world at the time. So as we look forward to America's 250, there's some really important topics that have been covered here today, but I think they pale in comparison to the fact of what our country views as how and the divide that we have on where our rights actually come from. Is it a big government country that controls our rights or is it a country where people have freedom and they have their rights that were given to them that were ordained by our creator? As we move into the 250, I think we should also look forward to our next 250 and I was wanting to ask a lot of questions about the Great American Outdoors Act, the good work that many of you have done on our public lands and how we might look at a reauthorization of the next 250 of the Great American Outdoors Act 250, but I'll have to save that for written questions because I'm out of time. So again, thank you for being here. I challenge you to go back and read the Declaration and be convinced in your heart where your rights come from. Mr. Chair, I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. The gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Clyburn, is recognized for his five minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Madam Ranking Member, for allowing me to participate in today's hearing and I thank the witnesses who have joined this panel. The commemoration of our nation's 250th birthday this year is of great interest to me. I have taught history, I have written about history, and I study history daily. I frequently quote George Santayana's famous aphorism: those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I also frequently quote Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. It follows from these wise words that if America is to maintain and expand our greatness, we must remember the faults of our past and the consequences that flow from how we addressed those faults. Hopefully, that history is instructive for us today. Our public lands provide great opportunities to memorialize events and inspire people. Regrettably, the current administration seems prone to hiding facts from the American people, censoring information previously and factually displayed on our public lands about the faults our nation has successfully overcome. The censors of this administration dismantled an exhibit at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia that documented the experiences of people who were enslaved in George Washington's residence. This censorship also forced the removal of information about Native American history at several public lands in the West. These actions were taken pursuant to an executive order that seeks to mandate that our public lands do not, and I quote, inappropriately disparage Americans past or living. Mr. Spears, you are an historian. Do you believe that teaching Americans about the faults of slavery and about the history of mistreatment of Native Americans inappropriately disparages past or living? The executive order also declared that the content that they were seeking to remove was that which, and I quote, deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame. I am not ashamed of my heritage, so why would anybody else be? I share it every chance I get and I am proud of my parents' successes and believe their descendants and others will benefit from learning about them. Mr. Spears, do you believe that teaching Americans about the faults of slavery and the mistreatment of Native Americans deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame? As we prepare to commemorate our semi-quincentennial, I hope that we can all agree that memorializing the faults of our nation's history on our public lands and elsewhere does not detract from our nation's greatness, but is the very foundation upon which that greatness has been built. And I yield back.

I thank the gentleman. Just to let you know, I was keeping tab of the people that have yielded on this committee. We're only down to four that haven't showed up, so that's pretty good out of 17. Now the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. McDowell, is recognized for five minutes. I thank the gentleman. The gentlewoman from Oregon is recognized for five minutes. She's Portland. Okay.

First of all, thank you to the witnesses. And I would like to respond to my colleague from North Carolina, you know, in bringing up that yes, we need to celebrate how far America has come, but how the hell do we know how far we've come if we erase the history? How is that patriotic? And history warts and all, right? We need to understand how we got here so that we can be better every single day. I would also like to respond to something Chair Westerman said, and he is a man of faith and someone I respect. In Matthew chapter 22 verse 21, it says, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. And that came about because the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus by saying, well then, if God is so great, then why should we pay taxes? It was a trick question. And the fact of the matter is, he said give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The bottom line is my family came here because they could not practice their religion, because they lost their land, because they lost their language. And they came here to a place where they could practice their religion, where they could strive for the American dream. They would not be accepted here under this current administration. But what I say is that Chair Westerman's religion is different than mine and nobody gets to say what type of religion, what type of God, or if you should believe in a God. That is not America. The foundations of this country are built on the Constitution and a rule of law and religious freedom, and that means the freedom not to practice religion if you so choose. So with that, I yield the rest of my time to my colleague from Oregon.

Thank you so much to my colleague for sharing more eloquently than I could a retort to what we are hearing today. I couldn't agree more that the fact of the matter is that we have to reckon with our demons to be able to move forward closer to our angels. And we have excruciatingly painful history that I will also share is being repeated right now. I just came from South Texas where I had to take a family out of detention who did nothing wrong and our government is holding them prisoner. It is absolutely the fact that we continue to reinvent our history and we do not reckon with it sufficiently so we cannot move forward until we do so. In my opening statement, I am going to move towards addressing the issues here that we have some amazing experts to help us talk through today. I described three ways Trump is using Freedom250 to hijack America's birthday: selling access, hiding donors, and making taxpayers pay for propaganda. I want to walk through each in my time that I have. We're going to start here briefly. Let's talk about access. Two days ago, the New York Times uncovered Freedom250's private donor solicitation. It's not entirely clear what donors get at various donor levels as the numbers and kickbacks are inconsistent even in Freedom250's own slide deck, suggesting this is a moving target. Mr. Whitehouse, why is it a problem that Freedom250 sells private access to the president?

Thank you, Congresswoman. The issue is there's no accountability, there's no transparency, and there's no guardrails and there's no oversight. And this is looking more and more like Freedom250 is an effort to sell America's anniversary to the highest bidder. This sets a terrible precedent and I want to say this is an effort by the Trump administration to move money off the books and to mix public money and private funds for partisan purposes.

Thank you, Mr. Whitehouse. Let's move on to how Freedom250 hides its donors. Freedom250 is structured as an LLC buried inside the National Park Foundation, which explicitly allows anonymous donations. Do you think, Mr. Whitehouse, it's a coincidence that President Trump forced Freedom250 into the National Park Foundation or is it more likely that its funding structure was what he was looking for?

I believe that's the funding structure that he was looking for. This is a private LLC that's formed in Delaware with no transparency. It allows public money to be again moved off the books to this private LLC and to be mixed with the partisan purposes and fundraising activities of the president and this administration to further their partisan agenda.

Thank you, Mr. Whitehouse. I will come back after I get my time later on. I yield back to the chair.

I thank the gentlewoman. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Tonko, is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank you and the ranking members Huffman and Dexter for the invitation to attend this hearing. I've spent much of my career working to safeguard our nation's cultural resources, so I appreciate being a part of this discussion. Kind of interesting comments being shared here that at times are disturbing. I represent New York's Capital Region, home to sites that are inseparably... ...inseparable from our nation's founding. Sites like Saratoga National Historical Park, the location of one of the most decisive victories of the Revolutionary War. America's 250th anniversary should be a moment for communities like mine to reflect honestly on who we are, where we've been, and what kind of nation we want to become. And our commemorations should be inclusive, they should be educational, and they should be grounded in truth. Instead, this administration is distorting what America 250 and our national parks could and should be. Our parks, our historic sites, our heritage areas are places of storytelling where complex, sometimes painful chapters of our history are explored with care, with accuracy, and expertise. Unfortunately, Trump's executive order, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, puts in motion a calculated campaign to whitewash and erase our past to fit a partisan ideology rooted in white nationalism. Just last week, during the first week of Black History Month, Mississippi Today reported that the National Park Service intended to rewrite brochures because they described the Ku Klux Klan member who assassinated civil rights icon Medgar Evers as racist. When it becomes controversial to state plainly that a clansman acted out of racial hatred, we're no longer preserving history. We are distorting it. And frankly, it's downright embarrassing. Mr. Chair, I ask for unanimous consent to enter the Mississippi Today article into the record, an article that is titled, Medgar Evers' Killer Was a Clansman, but Trump Administration Says Stop Calling Him a Racist.

Without objection.

Thank you. Mr. Spears, in your testimony, you mentioned that inaccurate history can cause some Americans to disassociate from their past. Can you explain what that looks like and what it could mean for our society?

Yes, sir. And Congressman Tonko, I just want to thank you again for your tremendous leadership in terms of cultural resources preservation in our national heritage areas. When I talked about disassociation, what I mean is I'd like everybody in the country to participate in the 250th anniversary of American independence. It's a big thing. It's a big deal. But when you have a federal agency that begins to slice and dice history to excise people's stories from the national narrative, it helps provide people who may not be paying attention to national parks an extra reason to not care. To not feel like the history is reflecting their involvement, their families, their history. And I think that that's my fear about disassociation is we want more people engaged, don't we, at this point in time? Not less. That's what this country needs. And one way to do that is by helping people, not through a partisan political way, but just through straight-up treatment of their history, that you had a role, your family had a role in helping to develop this country. And that there were things that didn't go entirely right all the time, and there were times when we failed to live up to the better angels of our nature. That's us too.

Well, thank you for that. I have to believe that truth is the valued tool that allows us as a people in search of a more perfect union to get our work done. What has been the reaction from communities when history in local parks is rewritten, Mr. Spears, and how does that affect public trust?

Well, maybe there's two answers to that, Congressman Tonko. The first is that when the QR codes were placed in national parks in the summer of 2025, the overwhelming response by the public, people who were zapping those QR codes with their phones, was that they actually didn't have a problem with the way that the National Park Service was treating our history. They wanted more of an exploration of difficult subjects. But the other thing that's important, and you always talk about the pride of place that our national parks and public lands can bring forward. Imagine being in a community right now in Mississippi where you've spent maybe the last five, six, 10, 15 years working to develop the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument site, designated as a national monument by President Biden in July of 2023. And now there's no Park Service staff to staff that place, to keep it open, because there's no money, there's no staffing. And now you're also hearing that maybe you might have to rewrite some of your interpretation to not mention racism as it relates to the story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in the summer of 1955. Where are we? Where are we?

Right. Right. It has to be an honest, soulful introspection. And America's 250th anniversary should challenge us to confront our history honestly, not to erase it. If the truth is indeed uncomfortable. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.

I thank the gentleman from New York. The gentlewoman from California, Ms. Chu, is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Ranking Member, for allowing me to waive onto this committee for this hearing. It is good to be back. I want to start by actually making clear what the posters behind me are. They are reproductions of the official interpretive panels that the National Park Service took down at the President's House site in Philadelphia under President Trump's censorship order. The panels, titled Life Under Slavery, explained in plain language how slavery operated and how the early presidency existed alongside slavery. Now, Republicans want to call that patriotism. They want to hide behind an executive order about not disparaging Americans, as if telling the truth about slavery is some kind of insult rather than a basic duty of a democratic society. And also, as if the truth always has to be comfortable. And you know, I was on this committee, and I recall participating in a hearing about the monuments on the National Mall. And at one point, a Republican colleague told me on the microphone that I need to thank Republicans because it was Abe Lincoln who freed the slaves. Now, as small-minded and ignorant a decision that was to say that statement to me, that individual was sharing an account of history. Not comfortable, not appropriate, not forgotten. But certainly, he shared it. And you know what? That's what this is about. Being able to share history because you know history because it's not being erased. So, Mr. Spears, for those who've never visited this site, please explain what the President's House site is, what it commemorates, and why interpretive panels like the one behind me matter for the public's understanding of history.

Congresswoman, thank you for the question. The reproductions that you have behind you right now were installed in an interpretive display managed by the National Park Service at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, and they stood just a stone's throw away from the Liberty Bell. They stood just a stone's throw away from Independence Hall. And the idea is, when the President's House was essentially rediscovered a couple decades ago, that there was a decision, and it was controversial at the time, that better interpretation and better understanding of the role that enslaved people, people of African descent, played in Philadelphia when it was the nation's capital should be provided at Independence Hall. And we've talked about this a little bit. Again, George Washington, being the nation's first president, served two terms in Philadelphia, and he would shuttle his enslaved people back and forth from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon in Virginia to make sure that they didn't get enough time in an emancipation state that they could declare their freedom. So this was a big deal. This was something that George Washington, President George Washington, General George Washington thought about. And these interpretive panels are simply helping to tell the story of enslaved people in the founding era of this country. May I just say this? We have provided all kinds of inspiration to people all across the globe. We did come together with our allies and defeat fascism in the Second World War. We have brought political, social, economic inspiration. And now we are being told that the contents of a National Park Service interpretive brochure or signage might very well undermine our democracy. Don't believe the hype.

No, I don't. So, Mr. Spears, do you know anyone who owns slaves? Do you know anyone right now who owns slaves?

Not in the present moment, no, ma'am.

Okay. Now, there's a lot of stuff written about all of us in the news. Have you read any articles about Republicans or even Democrats in this Congress that own slaves?

I have not.

Okay. Neither have I. Probably because the lessons learned from slavery, the history of slavery, would suggest that it's not right to own slaves in modern-day 2026. But if you take down interpretive panels that share the history of slavery, then how would someone know that history? How would someone understand the lessons of slavery to say, you know what, maybe in 2026 I shouldn't try and own a slave? I mean, does that make sense what I'm saying?

Yes, ma'am, it does.

Thank you. So with that, I would like to yield unless you have anything else that you would like to add in these last few seconds.

Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it.

All right. I yield back, Mr. Chair.

I thank the gentlewoman. The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Beyer, is recognized for five minutes.

Mr. Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, thank you for allowing me to waive on. I greatly appreciate it. And I am a proud American, a proud Virginian, and I am celebrating those 250 years. But I believe that we're defined by our honesty, by our willingness to learn from the past. That we don't get to choose history. History is what actually happened. And that's the way we learn from it. That's why I've been so concerned by the recent efforts of this administration, the so-called accident that removed the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the removal of the scourged back photo at Fort Pulaski. The removal of signs at our own Manassas that reflect on the Lost Cause ideology. The removal of exhibits in Philadelphia as my colleague just mentioned. The Confederate Memorial statue, a few blocks from where I live, at Arlington National Cemetery with the faithful Black servants that Pete Hegseth promised to put back in 2027. The major slave trade center in Virginia is four blocks from where I live. But I've been most concerned about Arlington House. The National Park Service, this administration, removed the Junior Ranger booklet we had there for years that taught kids about what happened at the Arlington House. This is Black History Month. I've been working for years with the descendants of Arlington House to rename it to what it originally was. And not just the descendants of the slaves, the Syphaxes and Custises and Fitzhughs and Sojourner Truth, but also the descendants of Robert E. Lee, who've been active partners with this. And I'm deeply concerned that Donald Trump will now turn to erasing anything at Arlington House that mentions slavery. I come from Virginia where there are many families that have the same last name because not too long ago, one family owned a different family. Mr. Spears, Donald Trump seems to be on this active campaign to erase history in our parks. It's not an overstatement to say he's trying to make America white again. Can you tell us why it's so important that parks provide the quality and interpretation and education for all Americans so we can learn who we are and how we've become who we are?

Congressman Beyer, thank you for your question. I'll just quickly relate again my own history as a young kid growing up here in Washington, D.C. I had parents who were looking for inexpensive, fun, and educational things to do for their only child. We went to Gettysburg, we went to Harpers Ferry, we went to Antietam, we even went down to Petersburg once or twice. And the idea is learning about American history really fired that passion for understanding in me. But it wasn't until I began to see on those landscapes that my people were represented, that there was an African American experience in some of those stories, that I began to really take hold of that history and that story. And so I think what we're looking at right now is the danger of taking that in the completely opposite direction where people don't see themselves reflected or are seeing themselves actively removed and excised from our shared national narrative. We don't need to go in that direction. This is not about hatred of America or the United States. It is about telling the full American story, again, about the times when we failed to live up to the better angels of our nature. That's us too.

You know, as a Virginian, remember that we had both capitals of the Confederacy. We had the Army of Northern Virginia versus the Army of the Potomac. And yet, in the last three statewide elections, we have elected an African American in a statewide election. I was on the ticket with Doug Wilder in 1989, the first elected Black governor in American history. There's so much to be proud of, but as long as we recognize the entire history. Mr. Spears, again, I'm very concerned. I'm the only former park ranger in Congress, Lincoln Memorial, 1972. And I'm really concerned about this US non-US resident fee. We lost $30 billion in tourism just in the last year. What's that going to do to people who plan up to two years ahead of time to come see Yosemite or the Grand Canyon or Shenandoah National Park?

Well, the non-resident fee, we are looking into that right now at the National Parks Conservation Association to determine the impact. The rollout has not been perfect, and we do appreciate that fees play an important role in helping our parks to provide programming and services and to keep places functioning and clean. We're taking a look right now at the details of the non-resident fee and working to determine the best way to move forward on that issue.

Yeah. And again, not against fees. I've always worried about the Great Smokies, which has no fees, which has been historically underfunded in terms of its amenities. It's just finding the right balance so that in economics we talk about the elasticity of demand. And let's make sure that we're not chasing away people who are dying to come see every part of our country, including our history. Do you have another research? Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you.

I thank the gentleman. The gentlewoman from Hawaii is recognized, Ms. Tokuda, for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Gosar, Ranking Member Dexter, for inviting me to join this important hearing in the House National Resources Committee today. As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary, this is no time to sanitize our story, and you've heard it here from my fellow colleagues. This is time for the truth. We don't honor America by whitewashing the past, burying the pain with pretty language, or bleaching the evidence of the damage done. I am a descendant of Nisei, a Japanese immigrant who was incarcerated by our own government during World War II. My great-grandfather was imprisoned even as his son, my grandfather, joined the Military Intelligence Service, risking everything in service to a country that saw him as the enemy. The Trump administration's effort to censor national park signage that tells the true story about the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans is not about truth. It's about erasing our story, and it's a direct attack on descendants like myself. Today, five of those incarceration sites are preserved in the National Park System. They are Manzanar in California, Minidoka in Idaho, Tule Lake in California, Amache in Colorado, and Honouliuli in Hawaii. More than 125,000 Japanese Americans and people of Japanese descent were imprisoned in these camps. Forced from their homes, stripped of their livelihoods, and denied their constitutional rights. These were not confinement sites. They were prisons built on state-sanctioned bigotry and fear. And that fear and bigotry killed at least 1,862 Japanese Americans while they were interned there. They died in these camps, far from home, behind barbed wire. And that doesn't account for the death by a thousand cuts normalization of abuse and discrimination on our people and what they have had to face. Because the damage did not end when the gates came down. Families were stripped of their savings, land, businesses, for generations suffering losses that were never, ever fully recovered. They faced decades of discrimination even after they left the camps. So you can scrub the signs all you want, but you can't scrub what's written in our blood or what we know to be true. So as America approaches its 250th anniversary, how we tell our story is a test of whether we have learned anything at all during that time. We bear witness, we keep the record, we protect the truth. This happened because people turned a blind eye to injustice, because we tolerated inhumanity and stayed silent while justifying cruelty. And it's happening again. Because despite the apologies and even redress, people, humans are once again being interned on a camp site on Fort Bliss right now. We have a choice before us: to stand guard, to step in, and take responsibility before the barbed wires continue to go up in communities across our country. So, Mr. Spears, what assurance do communities like mine have that the lessons of past government abuses will be counted in this anniversary, including our stories, not just the victories, so that apology is not the final step before repetition?

Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. I'm sorry to say that there are maybe no guarantees at this point in time, except for people who are managing America 250 at the state and the local level. Like some of our colleagues that are right here, who have made pledges, I believe, to provide a 250th commemoration that is accurate, just, and inclusive. And I think that we are beholden to local preservationists, conservationists, and historians who are still continuing to do that work of highlighting and daylighting our history. So it's really up to them at this point in time. I'm not sure that the way things are rolling out at the federal level that we've got an opportunity to have those kinds of inclusive stories that need to be told. I hope I'm wrong about that. It doesn't appear to be that way at this point in time, and that's troubling.

Thank you. You've prepared me for my second question. You know, Secretary Burgum's secretarial order instructs the National Park Service to highlight the greatness of the achievement and progress of the American people. I have no objection to celebrating our nation's successes, but greatness without truth is clear propaganda. Too often, as we know in our history, our darkest moments were preceded by silence, by erasure, by turning a blind eye. I would like each one of you to tell me, will you be real patriots in the fight to ensure that all of our collective stories, from internment to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, that our complete and true story will be told in America 250? If you'd like to start, a simple yes or no is all I need. Mr. Reinbold, would you like to start? Will you protect our stories and make sure it's complete?

The National Park Service has funded complete American story for years. We will continue to.

The Forest Service is not really in the business of interpretation, so to your answer, I would have to check with the Chief Schultz and understand what their position is.

I will work on you. Mr. Trandahl, I'm running out of time.

Yeah, and I work with 12 of the different federal agencies, and I can tell you that I've not experienced a lot of the examples.

Yes or no, will you defend all of our stories? Mr. Whitehouse.

Yes.

Ms. Thompson.

Yes.

Ms. Chiles.

Yes.

Mr. Glasco.

Yes.

Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, I yield back.

I thank the gentlewoman from Hawaii. Now I recognize the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Chu, for five minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for letting me waive on. Mr. Spears, I am deeply disturbed by the Trump administration's whitewashing of American history, and I have one example of this that affects the Chinese American community. One of our nation's most iconic national parks, Yosemite, is located in my home state of California, and I loved going there as a child. It is home not only to famous landmarks like El Capitan and Half Dome, but also to important chapters of our state's history. As chair emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or CAPAC, it's deeply important to me that the contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are recognized as part of our national history. And that is why I was so thrilled when in 2011, National Park Service Ranger Yenyen Chan expanded our understanding of Yosemite's history by uncovering the stories of Chinese American workers and their role in this park. And the story is this: Chinese people moved to California during the Gold Rush, but by 1850, the Foreign Miners' Tax forced many Chinese to search for work outside the mines. During this time, many Chinese workers, some immigrants and some American-born, began arriving in Yosemite. They did essential work such as cooking, farming, cleaning, ranching, and road building. But what was extraordinary was what these workers did to help build Yosemite. Even before it was designated a national park, Chinese Americans built the Tioga Road and the Wawona Road, providing stagecoach access to the park and central corridors for Yosemite's tourist boom in 1890 when it became a national park. This group included Tie Sing, a renowned chef who worked for influential figures like Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service. In recognition of his contributions, a peak in Yosemite was named after Tie Sing in 1899. Tie Sing's culinary skills were celebrated during expeditions, and he played a vital role in promoting the park's natural beauty. Then in 2011, it was Ranger Yenyen Chan who began researching and uncovering the long-forgotten stories of the Chinese Americans who helped build Yosemite. As a result of her work, advocates and scholars came together in 2019 to help restore the Chinese Laundry House, which housed exhibits that celebrate the Chinese workers that made Yosemite what it is today. So that's why I was extremely shocked and saddened to learn that this history is no longer being shared with the public because today, the Chinese Laundry House is closed. Why? Because last year, the Trump administration slashed funding and fired thousands of employees across our nation's national parks, including Yosemite. In fact, last spring, Ranger Chan took an early retirement and left Yosemite National Park under the threat of the federal reduction in force orders. She said that she felt that the opportunity to tell more truthful, inclusive stories of the park was waning within the bounds of the Trump administration. This is a tremendous loss. But Mr. Spears, I have to thank you and your organization because you recognized Ranger Yenyen Chan last year with the 2025 Stephen Mather Award for her work in preserving and sharing our national park's history for this very thing, for this Chinese Laundry House. So why is it critical that we continue to highlight these stories, and what do we risk losing if they are erased or it is ignored?

Congresswoman Chu, thank you for your question. Listen, last year the National Park Service lost 4,000 people, 25 percent of the workforce, to deferred resignations or layoffs or RIFs, other things like that. They are not in a condition right now to fully manage the interpretive responsibilities that they have taken on for the public. And the loss of someone like Ranger Chan is just, you can't replace somebody like that. You can't bring in three or four seasonals or volunteers and have them immediately take on that knowledge. But I would say, doesn't it make you feel proud? When you consider that history and that connection to national parks and public lands, doesn't it make you feel proud that your people, my people, our people had a role to play in helping to develop a national park, helping to develop this nation? That's all we're asking for is an opportunity to have those stories and those legacies recognized. And we're seeing the progress on that over the last 20 years or so balled up and thrown out the window. And it hurts.

Thank you. I yield back.

I thank the gentlewoman from California. Now I recognize the gentleman from California, Mr. Takano, is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Gosar, and thank you for allowing me to be at this hearing. And thank you to the witnesses for being here. More than 125,000 Americans, including my parents and grandparents, were rounded up and placed in desolate camps at the hands of our own government. My father is still living, and I still know directly that story and history. He bears scars on his legs when as a two or three-year-old, he ended up falling into one of the burn pits at the hastily built camp in Tule Lake. OSHA wasn't around to make sure that these camps were safe for the inhabitants, much less little children who were considered enemies, enemy aliens of this country. Actually, he wasn't an alien. He was an American-born citizen. And so there are very visible scars, little scars that he bears to this day. The National Park Service has preserved dozens of these incarceration camps around the country for people to visit and honor these experiences. The motto at Minidoka, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is Nidoto Nai Yoni, which in Japanese means let it not happen again. Mr. Spears, teachers rarely get a chance to educate students about every event in the United States' 250-year history, and important chapters like Japanese American incarceration are often left out. What role does the national park system play in creating a more well-informed, civically engaged public?

Congressman, it plays a really huge and mighty role. In 2024, I think it was, there were 330 million people who visited national parks. Now, not all of them went to Bainbridge, obviously. But a significant number will have their first experiences having discussions about gender, about race, about slavery, about civil rights, about American history in our national parks. And so we've got to help that agency to get those stories right. And we have spent the last 30 years as an advocacy organization helping to, the Park Service has led the way, but we have helped them to move forward in developing an interpretation that is more accurate, inclusive, and just. And we're losing that right now. And so when you have 330-plus million people visiting national parks, and when you've got 4,000 people down in terms of the employment ranks and the permanent employee base of the National Park Service, and when you've got signage that's being erased or removed, we are losing an opportunity to connect with the public, to provide them information on our, our shared national narrative, about how we got here and about where we might be going next. So it's critical that we not have that as something that happens policy-wise.

Well, Mr. Spears, it seems we're missing a critical opportunity in this 250th anniversary of our country to tell the whole and complete story. ...mistakes and sins. But in the case of Japanese American incarceration, there was an official apology. There was recompense, and there was the preservation of these sites. February 19 coming up, the Day of Remembrance marks 84 years since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 and created concentration camps for Japanese Americans. Preserving and honoring these sites requires dedicated specialists. How has the loss, Mr. Spears, of a quarter of the National Park Service workforce impacted the agency's ability to protect these irreplaceable historic sites and teach Americans about our shared history?

It has a critically adverse impact, sir. You can walk into a national park and see a historic structure or go to my favorite national park, Gettysburg National Military Park, and there's cannon all over the landscape, and you think these things are here, they've always been here, they'll always be here. But the 4,000 people among that number we've lost, ethnographers, museum collection specialists, historians, the people who are the behind-the-scenes folks who make history live and breathe and help the public to understand what's going on. So that loss is critical, and we could certainly use the help of Congress to right that and reverse those losses by rehiring those folks.

Mr. Chairman, I've run out of time. I yield back. I thank you again. I must say, a deep well of sadness is what I experience at this missed opportunity in this 250th year of our country. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank the gentleman from California. The ranking member from Oregon is now recognized for her questions.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Whitehouse, we're going to pick up where we left off. At Davos, Freedom 250 CEO Keith Krach asked foreign governments to donate to Freedom 250 and even offered them the opportunity to, quote, "influence American leadership," unquote, in exchange for their donation. My question is, what kind of risks are there when foreign governments can make anonymous donations to benefit the President's agenda?

Thank you for that question. I'll first note it's highly ironic that our nation was formed in order to throw off undue foreign influence, and now on our 250th anniversary, in a very untransparent way, this administration is recruiting foreign money for this celebration with no accountability, no transparency, no guardrails. When people give money to organizations like Freedom 250, they are asking for something in return. And so there's a quid pro quo that develops here. These are very wealthy people. They're often corporations with business before the administration or that have billions of dollars in government contracts.

Thank you. And according to the National Park Foundation's charter, they can accept foreign donations as long as they're, quote, "for the benefit of the National Park Service." And I do want to get to Mr. Reinbold after this, so if you can be brief. Could Freedom 250 money be used to pay for President Trump's vanity projects, like the 250-foot Arc de Trump or even remodeling the White House bathroom with marble?

There are no guardrails. They're raising private money, so yes, they could be.

Thank you, sir. So I will now pivot back to Mr. Reinbold. Representative Grijalva asked you if you would be willing to disclose Freedom 250 donations, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of your organization. I don't believe you answered. Will you disclose the donors?

We disclose any donations to the foundation, in this case to Freedom 250, as part of our normal reporting. So we do that as part of an annual report. I believe Freedom 250 has mentioned them on their website, but any donations we receive are accounted for just like any other donations we would receive.

So I can quote that any donation that is made to the Freedom 250 will be disclosed. The donor will be disclosed.

Any donations that we receive, that the National Park Foundation receives, are reported out in our annual reporting unless there is some anonymity requested by the donor. We honor that.

And if they request anonymity, that is exactly what I'm trying to get to, is we are having potentially a disruptive donation set coming in who may not have our country's best interest at heart. So you will protect the anonymity of those donors if they ask it, is that correct?

Our policy is to honor the anonymity requests.

Okay. So when someone donates to Freedom 250, do they sign a contract or agreement with the National Park Foundation?

So any donations to Freedom 250 follow our normal donation procedures. So those donors are vetted by the National Park Service, and then any donations are treated just like any other donation we would receive. They go through the procedures established by the National Park Service.

So I guess I'm looking for a little more clarity on this. Will you say whether or not there are contracts that are gone into between a donor and the Park Foundation?

So for corporate donors, there are rights and responsibilities that come with those donations. So those are specific agreements with corporate donors, correct.

Okay. So will you provide those donor contracts to this committee?

As a matter of policy, we do not release any agreements like that.

So I will just put on the record that that is going to be a request of as far as me as the ranking member, that we do need to have clarity on this, so anticipate that letter coming. And thirdly, can donors specify which projects their money supports?

There are a number of, at this point, all we've been asked to do by the Park Service is support a number of events. And so donors could be donating to specific activities, specific events.

So a donor could direct funds to the proposed 250-foot arch or to the White House bathroom or to the Garden of American Heroes if they so wish through this arrangement we have.

We have not been asked to raise funds or accept funds for any of those projects. The only thing we've been asked to support are activities and events celebrating 250.

I have heard our President suggest that these are celebrations of our history in his name and otherwise. So if someone were to donate money through the Park Foundation and Freedom 250, would they be able to say they wanted to direct those funds to a specific project regardless of your interpretation of whether it's relevant to the 250th birthday?

That is not part of our current agreement with the Park Service.

Okay. So if those requests are made, would those be denied and the donations would be deferred?

We would have to talk to the Park Service about it.

So I would like to know for the record if someone is going to donate to the White House bathroom or the Garden of American Heroes or the 250-foot arch, you will deny those funds?

I would have to defer that to the Park Service. We have not been asked to accept those. We are not soliciting for those projects.

Thank you. I am over my time. I yield back.

Well, I guess I'm here. It's my turn. I'm just going to continue with what the gentlelady was talking. Last year I introduced H.R. 2841, Putting Trust in Transparency Act. Like what I've heard today mentioned here, I also agree that transparency is important. I've talked a lot about this, and the thing that this bill would do is that it would require, would require any nonprofit that files a 990 to include the name, zip code, and total contributions of their donors on their 990 forms if they accept federal funds. But this would only apply if they accept federal funding. First of all, my first question, do you agree that transparency is important in your filing your 990s as you all do? Start with you.

I do. We follow the 990 standards, yes.

So do we. Yes.

Yes.

Yes, we'll follow all federal laws.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, sir.

Okay. Now, would you commit to working with me on this issue? Because I think this is very important. I mean, we've heard all about this now today, and now you've found somebody on the other side here that's been asking for this a long time. Would you guys commit to working with me on this?

I would, yes.

Yeah, similarly.

Yes.

We do not get involved in tax policy.

No, I'm not talking about tax policy. I'm talking about a nonprofit, and I heard it all over here. Anybody that takes a federal dollar has to disclose where that money goes, who it was from.

Oh, thank you for the, I misunderstood. We don't receive federal tax dollars, so...

Oh, yeah, but you still can work with me. It doesn't mean you don't want to.

Sure. Yeah, I'm not sure I understand, but we don't follow, yeah.

Yes.

Yes.

Willing to take your request under advisement, sir.

Yes, sir.

Okay. Now, Mr. Fenkart-Froeschl.

Is it all right if you call me Dieter?

Okay, Dieter. The National Forest Foundation has been involved in the 4FRI project in Northern Arizona for years. There are many stakeholders involved in this project, and I've been seeing with my own eyes how this project has helped with reducing the risk of wildfire and working to clean up the forest while also helping the industry. How do you think that you can replicate something like that within another state? Can you give us some outlines that you would follow?

Excellent question, and we think the 4FRI is a model for how we can engage and excite industry as well as looking at fuel treatment across a large landscape. I would say when the 4FRI was originally developed, and thank you for all your support, it was a pilot and an opportunity to actually figure out how do we do this at scale. National Forest Foundation is working in other landscapes at this point in time, in the Plumas, for example, up in the Tahoe National Forest, and we're embarking upon a pretty extensive project to treat close to, what is it, two million acres across the Southern Idaho landscape. It's complicated, as you well know. There's a lot of issues that go into this in terms of the not only establishing long-term supply agreements, also understanding transportation costs, how you bring those down so that the economics of removing biomass, small-diameter timber, are feasible, but then also ensuring that you have the right processing facilities, sawmills, and ultimately the end markets so people are actually utilizing, purchasing, demanding wood products. And so NFF is involved in all of those elements to one degree or another. Be happy to sit down with you and talk to you a little further about the details of what we are doing.

I'll tell you what, it's astounding what they've done so far. So, you know, we want to also look at Alaska because they got a lot of dead timber. So anyway, Mr. Reinbold. As you know, my home state of Arizona is one of the, has one of the true wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon. Tragically, the Dragon Bravo fire last summer destroyed the historic hotel and which most of the infrastructure, and most of the infrastructure on the North Rim. I was wondering if you can give us an update on the North Rim and if you think there is an interest in partnering with groups like the foundation to rebuild up there.

Thank you for that question. Yeah, this was a terrible loss. The foundation has not been asked to participate in that. I know the Park Service right now is studying the North Rim and what they intend to do. That would be a conversation we would welcome if there's a role for the Park Foundation in it.

Well, I think that we should really get started on that one. Now, my last question gets a little bit of everybody here. So because I know we're very dominant on some others. Void of your testimony, what you said in your testimony, what one thing would you personally want to see done in America 250 and why? Personally, what you'd like to see. If you had a wish list of anything, what would it be? Mr. Reinbold.

For us, national parks are not a red thing or a blue thing. They're a, they're the right thing. And I would love to see people lean into the national parks as not one side or the other, but truly uniquely American.

Equally in national forests, I would say, are uniquely American too and really help build this country. The one thing that I would love to see is more education and understanding of why we need to actively manage these places so that they are healthy and resilient for years to come.

One of the greatest ideas I think that Congress did was this idea of creating public-private partnership among these foundations that are sitting here. And it has always been an incredible bipartisan effort, and it's proved to be so successful, but we just don't talk about it enough, and it just seems like such a strong idea to put forward at this time. Thank you.

I would like to see a happy, joyful, and inclusive celebration.

Thank you for the question. I would love to tell stories from beyond the parks. The Bureau of Land Management manages so many incredible places that are in and around the American West, and there's incredibly rich stories to tell and really great communities doing great things.

I second Mr. Whitehouse. I think our national public lands are a fantastic American idea, and there's a lot of important work behind them. But the National Park Service team and national public lands teams can only do as much as they can do with the funding that they've got. So I think fully supporting them and giving them the best opportunity to do the great work would be our request.

Mr. Chairman, designation of a Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park.

That's a really good one. Sir, I'd like to make sure the Historic Preservation Fund is reinstated and that grant funding continues for preservation projects.

Gotcha. Well, we have a hearing after this. You might want to pay attention because there's something in that, in that package. Well, without further ado...

Mr. Chair, if I can just submit something to the record. I just wanted to call out that our National Forest Service had mentioned that there is not historical interpretation done in Forest Service land. I do appreciate the investment at Trillium Lake, which is in my district, that you mentioned. I also want to mention that the Summit Meadow Pioneer Cemetery does have interpretation of history related to the deaths of people coming over the Oregon Trail and is on Forest Service land. So our Forest Service land is also a place of historical relevance and interpretation. Thank you.

Gotcha. Well, I got a final tally for you. We had 18 people wanting to get on the committee today, and 16 of them showed up. So, you know, that's pretty remarkable. So I thank the witnesses for your valuable testimony and the members for their questions. The members of the committee may have some additional questions for the witnesses, and we ask that you respond to these in writing. Under committee rule three, members of the committee must submit these questions to the subcommittee clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 13. The hearing record will be held open for 10 business days for these responses. You know what my comment was going to be, Mr. Whitehouse? Let's get this party started. If there's no further business, without objection, we stand adjourned. [Gavel sounds.]