SPRINGDALE, Utah — After making an effort to remove references to diversity, equity and inclusion from the trails of America’s national parks, including Utah's "Mighty 5," the White House is now looking at its gift shops.
National parks have a December 19 deadline to remove any items promoting DEI materials, which an Interior Department memo called "discriminatory, illegal and immoral.”
At Zion National Park, the main gift shop is run by the nonprofit Zion Forever Project, which kept park operations running during the recent government shutdown. A large part of the project's funding comes from the shop.
Although the gift shop is not of the park service, it still must be compliant with the DEI order.
"We certainly are, but our goal is to tell the story of our park," explained Natalie Britt, CEO of Zion Forever Project.
Books found inside the Zion shop include titles about African American women in the Old West and Native American history.
"I actually think it's about the citizens of our country and the story of our country. We cannot erase history," Britt said. "History deserves honesty."
Big addition on horizon for overlooked section of Zion National Park:
Zion National Park’s Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh is confident that items found in the Zion Forever store are now compliant with the Trump administration's mandate.
"When we're evaluating anything that's sold in the park stores, it goes through a rigorous process already, even for decades. We'll take another look at things and make sure that they focus on the cultural history and the natural history of Zion," Bradybaugh said.
The chairman of the Kaibab Band of Paiutes says he will not react with anger if an item about Native Americans is removed from the store because of the order.
"The biggest hurdle is not to become angry and react with anger, but to slow down and react with empathy and with compassion, and that will protect us and those that are around us," shared Roland Maldonado, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Chairman.
Britt added that if her organization and the gift shop were asked to comply with an order, they would.
"But we don't think that's going to happen because we think that our books will stand on their own," she said. "We're never going to stop telling the story of our park."
