Trump’s face on Glacier pass prompts NPS lawsuit
Ryan Knappenberger
WASHINGTON (CN) — An environmental rights group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the National Park Service to remove President Donald Trump’s face from the 2026 America the Beautiful Pass, which has historically featured contest-winning photos of nature.
The Center for Biological Diversity 16-page filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing the design unlawfully replaced a photo of Glacier National Park that won an annual photography contest that requires all entrants to feature federal public lands or waters.
According to the group, the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 created the annual pass to provide access to any national park or federal recreational land that requires an entry fee.
“The Interior Department’s bait-and-switch betrays the expectations of the thousands of people who participate in the contest and is directly at odds with the public participation mandates of the statute,” the center said. “It also undermines the stability of this well-established program and the conservation, recreational and educational outcomes [the statute] provides.”
The center is asking U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Donald Trump appointee, to declare the new design unlawful, vacate and remand the design decision and enjoin the use of any pass that displays Trump’s image.
Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, slammed the change in a statement as the president’s “crassest, most ego-driven action yet,” and argued his image wrongfully injected politics into America’s national parks, which “quietly bring all Americans together.”
“It’s disgusting of Trump to politicize America’s most sacred refuge by pasting his face over the national parks in the same way he slaps his corporate name on buildings, restaurants and golf courses,” Suckling said. “The national parks are not a personal branding opportunity. They’re the pride and joy of the American people.”
The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration has moved to realign America’s public lands with his agenda, most recently with the removal of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth as free-entry days. June 14 — Flag Day and Trump’s birthday — was added to the list in their place, and the waived entrance fee will only apply to residents.
The Interior Department also announced new prices for the annual pass: $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents. International tourists without an annual pass will also have to pay $100 per person to enter the 11 most visited national parks, in addition to the standard entrance fee.
Both annual passes, separate from previous America the Beautiful annual passes, are clear violations of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, the center said.
Just five days later, the Interior Department clarified that the Trump design was only for the Annual Resident Pass, while the Annual Nonresident Pass would feature the original contest-winning photo of Glacier National Park.
The Interior Department did not provide an explanation for the change, the center said.
“Portraying a sitting president for the first time in history in lieu of the winner of the photo contest is also ‘controversial’ and ‘inappropriate’ within the meaning of the contest rules,” the center said. “Quite simply, the 2026 Annual Resident Pass as announced by DOI was not, and cannot be, lawfully issued under [the statute], and must be set aside.”
Over the past 12 years, the passes featured contest-winning photos of the Everglades National Park, Wupatki National Monument, Sequoia & Kings Range National Park, San Juan National Forest, Redwood National Forest, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Acadia National Park, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Nantahala National Forest.
The Interior Department and the National Park Service did not respond to requests for comment.
“America the Beautiful means wild rivers and majestic mountains, not a headshot of a bloated, fragile, attention-seeking ego,” Suckling said. “There’s nothing beautiful about that.”