Earthkeepers: A Circlewood Podcast on Creation Care and Spirituality · Forrest Inslee

Our National Parks Under Attack: A Federal Worker Speaks Truth About Power | Ep. 131

·39 min·2 clips

Mark says rebuilding after these cuts could take four Democratic administrations.

1. Earthkeepers: A Circlewood Podcast on Creation Care and Spirituality focuses on federal land management, public lands, and the pressure on earth care agencies under the current administration. 2. Forrest Inslee hosts the conversation, and Mark joins as a retired U.S. Forest Service botanist whose 33-year career gives him firsthand knowledge of agency work. 3. The episode asks what this moment is for: how to understand the current cuts to environmental agencies and how to respond without collapsing into despair. 4. Mark says he retired in December 2024 after 33 years with the U.S. Forest Service, including 22 or 23 years as a forest botanist and three years as a regional botanist. 5. He describes his work as rare species treatment, invasive species management, and developing native plant materials programs for restoration projects. 6. Forrest connects that work to Circlewood’s own struggle to find native seeds and plants for land restoration. 7. Mark traces his vocation to a family that traveled widely, spent birthdays on backpacking trips, and valued national parks and native ecosystems. 8. He says place-based outdoor education matters because children remember national parks and outdoor spaces more vividly than sit-down classrooms. 9. Mark recalls appearing anonymously on the podcast in 2020 with a voice disguiser during the first Trump administration because he feared reprisal. 10. He says he now still feels the need to speak truth because this administration is systematically dismantling courts and agencies before pushing its agenda. 11. Mark argues that finite resources mean clean air, clean water, and viable ecosystems are hard thresholds, not abstract ideals. 12. He says the National Environmental Policy Act in the 1970s marked an awakening around environmental standards, and he fears those standards are now being removed wholesale. 13. He contrasts past shifts in funding under Republican and Democratic presidents with the current effort to change the core function of agencies. 14. He says the National Park Service and Forest Service were always meant to protect designated places, not become agencies “unleashing America’s energy potential.” 15. Mark uses the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” to describe agencies cut to skeleton staffing and warns that restoration costs may be unattainable for a long time. 16. He says even four consecutive Democratic administrations would not quickly restore lost protections because sediment damage, clear-cut changes, and staffing losses would linger for decades. 17. Mark describes colleague morale as heartbreaking, with workers trying to do their jobs while funds disappear and some employees losing jobs for statistical reasons near a one-year threshold. 18. He says resistance should start with noncombative conversation, listening, and common ground, not angry memes or public shaming. 19. The episode is conversational and reflective, with long-form interview pacing, direct examples, and a practical closing section on active hope. 20. Listeners who care about public lands, federal service, and native ecology will find it useful; listeners wanting light commentary or no policy discussion may skip it.

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