Local opinion: Our National Parks deserve better than Socha

National parks are our most treasured resources. From Saguaro to Grand Canyon, the Congressional designation of a national park is a point of pride for Arizonans, and a bucket list destination for Americans and international visitors alike. Filmmaker Ken Burns made famous the sentiment that national parks are “America’s best idea,” and anyone who has ever visited a park will likely agree. As we celebrate our 250th year as a nation, the one thing that should foster pride in America is our national parks.

That’s why all of us should be outraged at the nomination of Scott Socha as National Park Service Director. While our current administration has made some abhorrent nominations for cabinet positions over the past year, I am more concerned about this one than all the others. The reason is simple: Socha is completely unqualified for the position. He lacks the experience and merit to even be considered to lead the agency responsible for caring for our national parks. Yet, a spokesperson for the White House recently offered: “Scott Socha is a phenomenal selection to serve as the next director of National Parks and is totally qualified to execute the president’s vision for our nation’s parks.”

Federal law is clear that the director “shall have substantial experience and demonstrated competence in land management and natural or cultural resource conservation.” That alone should disqualify Socha, whose experience with national parks is entirely as a concessionaire — as president of Delaware North, his company profits from selling snacks and renting hotel rooms to visitors.

For those of us who have long been concerned about the privatization of public resources, alarm bells should be ringing with this nomination. Not only has Socha profited through concessions contracts, he sued the National Park Service in 2016 for $51 million when his company lost the contract within Yosemite National Park. Socha claimed his company owned the rights to names and logos associated with Ahwahnee Hotel and Yosemite Lodge. Eventually, the federal government settled the lawsuit in 2019 for $12 million — paid for by taxpayers like you and me. It’s worth noting that Ahwahnee is the traditional name of the Yosemite Valley from the Ahwahnechee, the original inhabitants who were forcibly removed in the 1850s. For a New York-based corporation to claim rights to the name is beyond egregious.

National Parks are home to natural and cultural resources unlike anywhere else on Earth. We owe it to future generations to protect and preserve this priceless heritage. At a time when the National Parks workforce has been significantly hacked, we need leadership committed to conservation — not commercialization.

Please reach out to your senators today and tell them to vote no on the nomination of Scott Socha as Director of the National Park Service. Here’s an easy way to find their contact information: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm