While some Alaskans organize a Sunday convoy to the entrance of Denali National Park, where they plan to fly their American flags in protest of a park superintendent’s ban on the flag on the Park Road, sources tell Must Read Alaska that the park staff has called for protection from the Alaska State Troopers.
The official statement from the Troopers is that the Park Service has not called them for backup. Troopers were on site at the Fairbanks Walmart parking lot where the convoy group gathered at noon on Sunday. Must Read Alaska’s source confirms the account that the Troopers were called for traffic control at the entrance to the park.
The news about the flag ban on the road that goes through Denali National Park reached the national level, with a story on Fox News on Sunday morning, and the X/Twitter account LibsofTikTok posted stories about the decision by the park superintendent to keep American flags off of the work vehicles that are building a bridge to connect the Park Road past the Pretty Rocks Landslide, so visitors will next year be able to get to Wonder Lake, the Eielson Visitor Center, and Kantishna Roadhouse.
The flags on the worksite itself are not under the jurisdiction of the park superintendent, but rather of the Federal Highway Administration project manager. But once the work vehicles leave the job site, Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell wants those trucks to not be flying the American flag, according to numerous sources.
Drivers from Fairbanks will meet at the Fairbanks Walmart at noon and plan to be rolling by about 1 pm, with a stopped planned for the Three Bears store in Healy, before the group proceeds to the entrance of Denali National Park.
Another group has organized from the south, and will meet at the Fisher Fuel on the Parks Highway, a half-mile from the Big Lake intersection, and roll to Denali at about 10 am. The group hopes to have a burger-and-hot-dog picnic when they arrive.
“No matter, we should be able to fly the American flag, no matter where,” said Keith Fons, who is one of the key organizers of the convoy. Fons, who lives in North Pole, always flies an American flag and once receive a $1 fine for driving his truck while it was covered with Christmas lights.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a military veteran of the U.S. Marines, has written a letter of protest to National Park Service Director Charles Sams, and at least three Alaska legislators have also written letters to Sams as well — Rep. Ben Carpenter, Rep. Jamie Allard, and Rep. Kevin McCabe. All three are veterans.
Rep. Allard pointed out that the men and women working in the park “do not give up their First Amendment rights when they put on their helmets and go to work.”
Rep. McCabe wrote that Alaska boasts the highest percentage of veterans per capita of any state in the nation. “These veterans, and indeed all construction workers employed in our National Parks, take immense pride in their country and their contributions to it. The American flag represents their dedication, patriotism, and the freedoms they have fought to protect.
Rep. Carpenter wrote, “The facts as reported have yet to be disputed by the National Park Service and, if accurate, deeply concern me and the constituents I represent … No good justification was reported to be offered by Ms. Merrell. From the reports that I witnessed, the justification given was in response to complaints from other park visitors.”
