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The rise of the resistance hike

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Resistance hikers Jay and Lynn Stein pose with homemade signs at the start of the Beaver Mountain Loop. Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
NEWS
ESTES PARK, Colo. — Throughout the 4.2 mile Beaver Mountain Loop at Rocky Mountain National Park, hikers wind between charred pines jutting out of the verdant, flowery hillside. 

This singed timber is evidence of the East Troublesome Fire, which razed nearly 200,000 acres of land in 2020. 

Adam Auerbach, a former AmeriCorps worker and former Colorado Parks and Wildlife educator, led a group of about 20 outdoor enthusiasts through this recovering landscape as part of an “advocacy hike” — he also called it a “resistance hike” — he formed in protest of the Trump administration’s series of federal funding cuts targeting national parks and public lands.

Similar acts of resistance have taken place at other national parks. In February, a group of hikers hung an upside down American flag from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park,

Across the hike, Auerbach cited the widespread layoffs affecting park and forest employees, as well as the budget cuts affecting operations, maintenance and preservation; and potential future cuts signaled by the Trump administration.

Auerbach occasionally stopped to speak about the land around them.

“You can’t have public enjoyment tomorrow if you don’t have preservation today,” said Auerbach, speaking to the group from a picturesque overlook of the Big Thompson River. 

“We are really not seeing Parks in the forever business as they’re meant to be.”

Auerbach’s advocacy hike — his first educational hike as someone not affiliated with CPW — focused on a number of subjects, including the history of Rocky Mountain National Park, ecological lessons on the park’s montane ecosystem and tidbits on the nearby Long’s Peak, which is identifiable by its rock formation that looks like a beaver.

Underlying all of this were much more pointed arguments and criticisms against National Park Service funding and staffing cuts. The newest cuts come by way of the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which rescinded $267 million in planned park improvement spending. More cuts are expected (to the tune of more than $1 billion), and the administration has hinted at shrinking or removing national monument sites.

According to findings from the National Parks Conservation Association, the National Parks service is down about 24% of its permanent staff, and federal funding cuts continue to strain Colorado-specific federal lands (more than one-third of Colorado is publicly-owned land).

In February of this year, President Trump issued an executive order that slashed the federal workforce, including thousands of employees with the Forest Service and the National Parks Service. 

One hiker referred to it as the “Valentine’s Day massacre.”
Hikers walked through the montane ecosystem of Rocky Mountain National Park, which includes plenty of pines. Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Hikers walked through the montane ecosystem of Rocky Mountain National Park, which includes plenty of pines. Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
It was around 7:30 pm Thursday night (the day before Valentine’s Day) when Alana Helin received her termination email. 

“I was on the phone with my sister when I got it, and I actually started laughing out loud,” said Helin. 

“She asked me what was so funny, and I said, ‘Oh, I just got fired for the benefit of the American public, or whatever the language was.’”

Helin joined the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in February 2024. She had one week left on her probationary period for new employees when she was fired.

“Every one of my employees loved the outdoors and the environment, that’s why we did this [work],” said Helin. “It was very fulfilling.”

Helin is still looking for a new role and is hoping to stay in a federal position, but she said jobs are limited and highly competitive. In the meantime, she wants to stay up-to-date and active through activism like the advocacy hike. 

Eileen Gilday, a hiker from the small Colorado town of Dacono, said she wanted to join the hike because it seemed easier than the “Protect Your Parks Protest” she joined at Rocky Mountain National Park in March.

She remembered being both hurt and confused by the middle fingers coming from passing cars making their way into the park. 

“The number of people flipping us off was shocking,” said Gilday with a laugh.

Coming from a predominantly Republican part of the state — and a predominantly Republican family — Gilday added that she sometimes felt isolated in her left-leaning political beliefs, particularly around protecting and funding public lands. The hike provided community along with the comfort of the outdoors.

“There is an aspect of this resistance [hike] that’s, like, no one can see us doing this,” said Gifford Hall, a land steward at Colorado Open Lands, a nonprofit land trust that advocates on behalf of Colorado land and water projects. 

“But what we’re doing now is a different form of resistance. We’re not at the capitol with signs, and that’s definitely valuable… but this approach here feels very relaxing.”
Gifford Hall described the vibe of the advocacy hike as “immaculate.” Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Gifford Hall described the vibe of the advocacy hike as “immaculate.” Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Hall studied alongside Auerbach at CU Boulder while they were pursuing Masters degrees in environmental and natural resources policy. He has joined Auerbach on previous advocacy efforts, including protests, informational talks and an advocacy picnic. This was their first advocacy hike.

“So much of advocacy makes you feel stressed out, burned out, you feel like you can’t do anything. Here… the vibe is just immaculate,” said Hall.

Auerbach is familiar with this sort of outdoor education. He said he used to interact with visitors frequently while working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and while he too acknowledged that this form of protest was not necessarily the most visible, he hoped that it would encourage the attending hikers to leave and inspire further change. 

As the hike wound down, Auerbach handed out small slips of action items to the hikers. He suggested using the Resistance Rangers “Good Trouble Toolkit” and to call their respective congresspersons and demand reform.

Auerbach stressed the importance of remaining resilient and staying connected with one another as well.

“This is not a 900-person protest, but you can’t have a 900-person protest at Rocky [Mountain National Park] every weekend. So how do we sustain the momentum in between?” said Auerbach.

“That’s where this hike comes in. There needs to be joy in it.”
Auerbach (center, talking) addressed hikers at various points along the trail. Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Auerbach (center, talking) addressed hikers at various points along the trail. Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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