The person Trump has chosen to lead the National Park Service is Scott Socha, a …

The person Trump has chosen to lead the National Park Service is Scott Socha, a senior executive with the private hospitality and concessions company Delaware North, which runs hotels, restaurants, and retail operations in a number of national parks across the country. Socha has spent more than two decades in the hospitality business and currently serves as president of parks and resorts at Delaware North, a firm that brings in billions of dollars annually from services tied to parks like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Shenandoah. His nomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation. 

This pick signals a shift toward a profit-centered mindset in an agency whose mission is about conservation, protection, and stewardship. The National Park Service was established to preserve natural landscapes, wildlife habitat, and cultural heritage for all Americans, not to maximize revenue or expand concession business operations. Socha, by contrast, has spent his career managing businesses that operate inside parks and generating income from visitors a very different set of priorities than protecting ecosystems, safeguarding historical interpretation, and ensuring scientific stewardship of public lands.

What makes the choice even more controversial is Delaware North’s past history with the Park Service itself. During a multi-year contract dispute over the Yosemite concession, the company asserted ownership of trademarks on historic names tied to the park (including names of iconic lodges and even parts of the park’s identity) and sought tens of millions of dollars for them before settling for far less. Parks belong to the public and should not be treated as intellectual property for corporate negotiation, that episode highlighted a fundamental clash of values.

Putting a longtime concessions executive in charge of the very agency that oversees and regulates park concessions naturally raises concerns about where priorities will land. Our national parks are public treasures, not business assets, and their leadership sets the tone for whether preservation or commercialization comes first. Given this background and relationship to a major park concessionaire, this appointment is a major conflict of interest!


Source