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Huge numbers of Americans took to the streets over the weekend for so-called “Hands Off” protests. People were condemning the Trump administration and many of its policies, including cuts to the National Park Service and other public lands. 

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has reduced staff that oversees public lands by hundreds of people. A judge ordered those positions to be reinstated, but it’s unclear how many people have actually returned to work. The White House has vowed to fight those rulings. 

Advocates, meanwhile, are bracing for additional cuts. This upheaval has raised concerns about the health and survival of America’s public lands, from popular national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone to national lakeshores like Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes. 

Tom Ulrich was the deputy superintendent for Sleeping Bear Dunes for more than two decades before retiring in 2023. Ulrich joined The Metro to discuss the current challenges facing America’s public lands. 

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order last week, directing national parks to “remain open and accessible.” Burgum says that means there will be proper staffing, but not everyone is convinced this will happen. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Monday, April 7:

• Mallory McMorrow wants to bring a new generation to the US Senate
• Curbing the impulse to buy more stuff
• Political pressure is ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Dozens of so-called “Tesla Takedown” protests took place around the country over the weekend. One such rally took place at Somerset Mall in Troy, where more than 100 demonstrators gathered on the sidewalk outside because of the Tesla store inside.

Organizer Hank Kennedy says the goal of the protest is to get Elon Musk to leave his advisory role in the White House. They hope to hit the world’s richest man in his wallet by discouraging others from doing business with his electric car company, Tesla.

Listen: Tesla Takedown protestors rally outside Somerset Mall

“I do not think he has any conscience in his body,” says Kennedy. “I think the only way he will respond is if he feels some sort of economic pain.”

The stock market price for a share of Tesla has dropped by about 25% in the last month. It’s down 46% since President Trump took office.

Despite that downward trend, the electric vehicle maker is only down about 9% since the November election. Tesla’s value had soared to record highs in December.

Chris from Sterling Heights, who didn’t share his last name, says for him the protests are also about calling out the Trump administration’s policies, on issues like immigration.

“I can’t sit idly by anymore,” he said. It’s become too big of a deal, it’s too important now. If I just sit by on the sideline and just let it happen, I’m part of the problem.”

Kennedy says the group did get some support from passing motorists, who would honk or wave a fist in support.

“We also get some people who flip you the bird,” said Kennedy. “I had some friends of mine…last week somebody threw a cup filled with ice at them. And that’s why I think these charges that we’re violent are so ridiculous.”

There have been incidents of Tesla vandalism nationwide. However, law enforcement groups say those acts have been carried out by individuals and are not largely coordinated.

A movement to protest outside a Tesla showroom near Grand Rapids appears to be gaining steam after a second week.

On Monday afternoon, about three dozen people stood outside the showroom on 29th Avenue in Kentwood to protest Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It was not a huge crowd, but it was the second week in a row for protesters. And now there are plans to continue the demonstration on the coming Mondays.

Elizabeth Jenkins said she accidentally became the organizer of the protest after looking into protests at other Tesla dealerships nationwide, and deciding that West Michigan should have its own protests.

“Last week I told my mom, ‘I accidentally signed up to make a protest, do you want to come with me?’ And I thought it was just her and me.”

Instead, dozens showed up. And since there was interest to do it again, Jenkins said she planned a second event, with more to come after this week.

Jenkins’ mom, Eileen, said she didn’t expect the small protest to make a big difference, but it’s important for her to make a statement.

“I don’t think that it will affect Elon Musk very much,” Eileen Jenkins said. “I think he looks at us as minor. But I do think that money is the only thing he understands, and this is the only way we can — I don’t know — make a money statement.”

Protesters have been making statements at Tesla showrooms around the nation in recent weeks, including regular protests at the Tesla showroom in Ann Arbor.

They oppose deep cuts made by a new government agency known as DOGE, spearheaded by Musk. Eileen Jenkins said Musk had taken the purse strings from the government by slashing programs without oversight from Congress.

The protests at the showroom just outside Grand Rapids started later than others around the nation, and so far have been smaller than some seen in other cities.

But Monday’s demonstration drew some who’ve not been part of protests in the past.

Tom Northway said he was a former Republican who hadn’t gone to a protest since he protested against the Vietnam War.

He said he’s been increasingly alarmed by both Trump and Elon Musk, and he was inspired watching an interview with Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa, a journalist in the Philippines whose outlet, Rappler, pushed back against the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, despite facing prosecution. Still, Northway said initially he wasn’t sure if he wanted to join Monday’s protest. He followed along with the event plans on social media.

“I looked up and saw there was only five people, and I thought, ‘Eh I don’t think I’m going to do that,’” Northway said. “And then there were 10 last Saturday night, and then yesterday afternoon I looked and it was 140. I said ‘Okay, I got a couple hours that I can spare and I got nothing else to do.’”

On Monday, he stood across the street from the Tesla showroom with his dog Jagger and held a sign that said, “Elon Musk is a Nazi,” a statement he said he felt comfortable with after seeing Musk give a gesture that appeared to some to be similar to a Nazi salute following a speech in Washington D.C.

“I have no problems carrying this and thinking I’m correct,” Northway said. “If somebody doesn’t stand up and say this is wrong, if everybody sits back on their couches, then nothing gets done.”

A Kentwood police officer at the front of the showroom said staff did not wish to comment on the protest.