According to new documents from the federal government, word came down, in fact, from the National Park Service through the Federal Highways Administration official in the park that a noise complaint had been made, due to a construction worker having a flag on his truck while on the Park Road, and that the flag must not be flown while workers are driving the road.
The story from the federal government keeps changing.
“At no time did an NPS official seek to ban the American flag from the project site or associated vehicles. The NPS neither administers the bridge project contract, nor has the authority to enforce terms or policies related to the contract or contractors performing the work,” the statement from the National Park Service read last week.
The National Park Service said the American flag flies in multiple locations throughout Denali National Park, including at campsites, on public and private vehicles and at employee residences.
However, when citizens went to check on Sunday, there was no flag flying at the Denali Park headquarters and workers on duty were not able to locate the flag.
The Federal Highway Administration, which is overseeing the contract for bridge construction work inside Denali National Park, has reiterated that the demand came from the Park Service.
Granite’s media statement “attributable to a Granite Spokesperson“:
Granite is a 100+ year-old American company. We are currently serving as the general contractor for the FHWA at the Polychrome site in Denali National Park. One of the Polychrome project’s partnership goals is to preserve the park’s natural elements and maintain park visitors’ experience by keeping a low profile as we go about our work, and we are mindful of this goal when planning our work and supporting the project. On May 16, 2024, our client notified us that a visitor complained that one of our vehicles was creating a noise disturbance by traveling through the park with a mounted flag and our client asked that the flag be removed. We always work to be responsive to our client’s concerns and complied. Our interest is in safely completing this important project while being considerate of park visitors and their desire to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. We are excited to partner with FHWA on the construction of this important project.
Granite is America’s Infrastructure CompanyTM, and we proudly display our nation’s flag at our offices, plants, and jobsites in Alaska – and across the United States.
The official statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation (for Federal Highway Administration):
“The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) fully supports the display of American flags, and hopefully we can clear up some of the confusion about this incident. FHWA is currently administering the contract for ongoing work at Denali National Park to ensure visitors will be able to safely access the park via a new bridge. As is always the case with construction work in our national parks, the goal is to minimize impacts and noise for both visitors and wildlife as much as possible. NPS staff relayed concerns to FHWA — as it does with all feedback related to the project — regarding single occupant vehicle traffic, as well as a visitor complaint about flags on vehicles while the vehicles were in motion. FHWA brought both concerns to the responsible contractor, who addressed the situation per their usual process.”
This corroborates, in part, the version of events that came from construction workers, who said an FHA worker told Granite that the National Park Service had received a complaint about a flag on workers’ trucks early in the season. The complaint came before the tour buses started running on May 15.
In a separate statement to Alaska Public Media, FHA reported that it was about “the noise a bridge worker’s vehicle-mounted flag was making while travelling the Park Road.”
Last week’s statement in full from the National Park Service:
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. At no time did an NPS official seek to ban the American flag from the project site or associated vehicles. The NPS neither administers the bridge project contract, nor has the authority to enforce terms or policies related to the contract or contractors performing the work. 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.”
The statement is carefully worded. The order to not fly the flag was reportedly not on the job site itself, which is under the purview of the Federal Highway Administration, but when vehicles went to and from the job site on the Park Road, which goes through the park from the Parks Highway. Must Read Alaska has verified the claim being made by construction workers, who stand by their version of the events.
I’ve had it up to here with noisy flags, flapping at top volume and disturbing the peace.
The noise is in their heads. Whenever the flag flaps in the wind, the radical lefty Democrats hear the chorus sounds of ……”Donald Trump, Donald Trump.”
🎵🎵🎵
Flags are noisy? Would the complaint have been made if the truck didn’t have a flag?
Just about the only thing that can be concluded is that the National Park Service got caught lying, but we already knew that.
More importantly – would the complaint have been made if it were a pride flag? BLM flag? Palestinian flag? One has to wonder.
Or a Stormy Daniels flag!
So, the flapping of a flag caused a snowflake to begin melting?
What’s next? The dog ate her Constitution?
Maybe the reason why the flag wasn’t flown on park flagpoles, and couldn’t even be found by park employees, is because they’re so deafening? I’m assuming the vehicle from which the cacophanous flag was flown from had an outstanding exhaust system. I wonder if such impressive exhaust systems are a contract requirement? No carbon and no noise?
Noise complaint? These people are a joke.
You can be sure if they are trying to communicate they are lying.
Was the flag at park headquarters making too much noise? Unbelievable.
Ah the speed limit on those roads and the speeding construction truck was just whipping by to be so noisy! Yes, this is just stupid! Fly more flags and bigger flags!
Two bits to a dollar that if it was an alphabet soup flag making the noise, there wouldn’t be a word said. This country is going to h**l in a handbasket.
OMG!!!! This is a sure sign that the left leaning populace have lost their ever loving minds! Please go back to where you came from🤪
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Excuses, excuses……excuses are like buttholes, everybody’s got one and they all stink…..
BS that is recognizable as such. When in doubt, make up some c—-.
Lying liars lie!!.I’m shocked!! Not!!!
on a long drive my wife use to get out of the truck and with the wind blowing you could hear the flap noise.. she’d get back in the truck with a smile on her face
Good thing those Yoo-Crain-eun flags flap so peacefully quiet…
That’s the best they could gin up after days of meetings and emails?
Would love to see the results of a FOIA request.
What a bunch of lying clowns.
Damage control is about the optics,,,, errr sonics.
Having over 40 years experience of operating and maintaining heavy equipment on road and other construction projects, I can attest to the fact that the noise of transmissions, tire, exhaust, turbos, let alone Jake brakes will completely override the sound of a flapping flag. And remember what kind of speeds they are likely driving. Maybe 30 – 40 tops.
Also, any dump trucks on an empty back haul often have incredibly loud banging of their box on the frame whenever they hit a bump.
Flapping flag noise – “Shut the front door”.
Their excuse sounds as incredibly stupid as Fauci’s lie about covid coming from Batman living in his bat cave.
The flapping of their lips lying about the truth is much louder than any flag could make in hurricane winds.
Their credibility has completely gone to h**l in along with Biden’s press secretary.
Go watch the mini-series “Chernobyl” and you’ll see how propaganda works in modern America.
Folks run to comfort and if the official line is “comfortable” then that is all they want to hear regardless of any inconveniences like truth.
If you look at the major media in AK, they are not doing journalism, they are simply repeating the party line.
You do not have to watch any dramatization to see how propaganda works.
Just look at today’s mainstream news media.
.
When every news outlet is repeating the almost exactly the same words, it is not news, it is propaganda.
Yes, Faux News is pretty polished at propaganda. $787 million worth.
I think I see it now. One of those REI … “couples” … was striding along the park road with their brand new hiking boots, backpacks, water bottles and of course their little sissy sticks, when one of those giant MAGA pickups roared by, kicking up all that nasty dust, with that offensive flapping flag blasting out the gentle voices of an NPR podcast whispering in their ears. Even worse, the workers in that truck were laughing and gesticulating at the sight of this decked out pair.
I can hear them literally shaking their bear bells in rage.
I want the name of the person who made the complaint. Just another sissy lib.
Well according to the ADN a NPS employee raised “concerns”, in Mid-May, which sadly contradicts their: “We didn’t do nothing” narrative from a week ago.
It is also interesting that flag-flapping noise isn’t a problem when they fly the flag, where you can actually hear it, without the growling engine, brakes, rattles etc. of a construction vehicle in the background…..
“Didn’t do nothing” is a double negative. In the world of mathematics that equals a positive, and in this case it was a positive also. So, as we have learned, the NPS did do something, they told the FHA to tell the contractor that flags on their vehicles had to come off.
The fact that it took them a week to make this statement speaks volumes.
Like. It is BS. Noise from the flag is not, and never was, the reason. But, the Park Service had to save face, and the brainstorming session came up with “they are noisy when flown from vehicles moving on the road” as the “real” reason.
.
Either they think we are stupid, or they are stupid. I am not sure which is worse.
Well the Trump tattoo on the driver’s neck didn’t help.
Free speech.
Next time set the flag on fire and the Park Service will have to shut up.
I wonder how many Democrats Granite (our Infrastructure company) Construction has in their pocket.
SO FIRST they claimed it did not happen then it was a misunderstanding… Liars!
close the road as “Desert Solitaire” suggests and Nature has urged at Polychrome
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