The official Twitter account for Redwood National and State Parks has joined a growing list of National Park Service Twitter feeds that have “gone rogue” by posting messages that run counter to statements and proposals from President Donald Trump.
Shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday the Redwood N&S Parks account tweeted, “DYK [Did you know] redwood groves are #1 carbon sink / acre in nature? About 200 tons an acre. More redwoods would mean less #climatechange #climate
Here’s a screenshot (in case the tweet gets deleted):
While that may not sound especially provocative under normal circumstances, the tweet comes just a week after Trump issued a gag order on certain federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the days since that ban there has been a string of defiant posts from official government social media accounts. Badlands National Park’s Twitter account, for example, issued a series of tweets regarding the record-high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. After thousands of “favorites” and “retweets,” the posts were deleted without explanation, as the L.A. Times reported. (A Buzzfeed reporter later quoted a National Park Service official saying the account had been “compromised” by a former employee.)
Later, Death Valley National Park’s Twitter account posted a series of messages about Japanese internment camps during World War II. Those tweets came just hours after reports that Trump is considering a ban on Syrian refugees as well as travel restrictions on Muslim-majority countries. (A spokesperson for Death Valley National Park insisted the timing was coincidental.)
Meanwhile, a Twitter account called @AltNatParkSer has popped up, claiming to be “The Unofficial ‘Resistance’ team of U.S. National Park Service.” With a series of tweets promoting science and mocking Trump, the account has racked up nearly 700,000 followers to date. (Of course, social media being what it is, there’s no way to tell who’s actually behind the account.)
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area also tweeted about climate change this week:
2016 was the hottest year on record for the 3rd year in a row. Check out this @NASA & @NOAA report: https://t.co/rLJUC56xqi pic.twitter.com/AKhFzYw6l6
— Golden Gate NPS (@GoldenGateNPS) January 23, 2017
As a reminder, this all comes in the context of a Twitter-happy president who once stated the following:
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
The park ranger who answered the phone at Redwood National Park’s local office said he has nothing to do with the tweets and has been told to direct all questions to the National Park Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.