A flag flap has erupted at Denali National Park in Alaska following a report that the superintendent has banned construction workers from flying the stars and stripes, a claim the National Park Service denies.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, Alaska Republican, fired off a letter to National Park Service Director Charles Sams asking him to “immediately investigate” a claim that contractors on a major federal bridge project inside the park were told to stop flying U.S. flags because they detract from the “park experience.”
“It is an outrage that on the lead-up to Memorial Day, a construction worker was prohibited from flying an American flag in a national park in Alaska,” Mr. Sullivan said this weekend on X. “I cannot conceive of a federal law or regulation mandating this.”
A National Park Service spokesperson flatly denied the claim, which was based on a Thursday report in the Alaska Watchman, calling it “false.”
“Reports that a National Park Service (NPS) official ordered the removal of an American flag from a Denali bridge construction worker’s vehicle at Denali National Park are false,” Peter Christian, regional public information officer, told The Washington Times.
“At no time did an NPS official seek to ban the American flag from the project site or associated vehicles,” he said.
Mr. Christian said the agency “neither administers the bridge project contract, nor has the authority to enforce terms or policies related to the contract or contractors.”
“The American flag can be seen at various locations within Denali National Park—at park facilities and campsites, on public and private vehicles, and at employee residences — and we welcome its display this Memorial Day weekend and every day,” Mr. Christian said.
The denial came as a group of Alaskans has organized a “patriotic convoy” Sunday from Fairbanks to Denali, prompting participants to post photos on Facebook of their vehicles decked out with U.S. flags.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Awesome interview with an Alaska pioneer from Fort Yukon — before statehood — ready to convoy to the Denali National Park entrance to let the Park Service know the American flag is welcome everywhere in the USA. <a href=”https://t.co/cwcGM9ligo“>pic.twitter.com/cwcGM9ligo</a></p>— Must Read Alaska (@MustReadAlaska) <a href=”https://twitter.com/MustReadAlaska/status/1794832632556974081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“>May 26, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
The Watchman report had cited an unnamed contractor claiming that Denali Superintendent Brooke Merrell informed the crew supervisor that there had been complaints about workers flying Old Glory on their vehicles and instructed them to stop.
“The trucks are flying these American flags, about a foot atop the trucks, about three-foot by four-foot flags, and they said they don’t want this,” the contractor told the news outlet. “They’re saying it isn’t conducive and it doesn’t fit the park experience.”
Construction has been underway since last year on the $207 million Federal Highway Administration project to build a 475-foot bridge after a 2021 rockslide took out a portion of Denali Park Road, a popular route for tourists.
The purported order to take down the flags came after tour buses began running past the construction site, according to the Thursday report.
“Here I am in a national park, and we’re being told we can’t fly the American flag,” the contractor said. “I understand there are rules for contractors working in the national parks, but you wouldn’t think flying the American flag would be part of those rules.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>It is an outrage that on the lead-up to Memorial Day, a construction worker was prohibited from flying an American flag in a national park in Alaska. I cannot conceive of a federal law or regulation mandating this.<br><br>I’ve written the <a href=”https://twitter.com/NatlParkService?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“>@NatlParkService</a> and demanded a response: <a href=”https://t.co/ynGXU6uHi9“>pic.twitter.com/ynGXU6uHi9</a></p>— Sen. Dan Sullivan (@SenDanSullivan) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SenDanSullivan/status/1794415593590002128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“>May 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
Mr. Sullivan said there is “no federal regulation or law that I can conceive of that would ban the flying of the American flag on public land — particularly in a national park the principal purpose of which is the enjoyment of American citizens.”
The agency drew pushback earlier this month after denying a permit to the Knights of Columbus Local 694 Council to hold its annual Memorial Day mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery at Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia, a tradition that dates back more than 60 years.
In an eleventh-hour about-face, the NPS granted the permit Thursday after the First Liberty Institute and attorney John Moran filed a federal lawsuit on the local council’s behalf that accused the agency of religious discrimination.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.