Lillian Crook, Bismarck

So here we are, November 2025. The National Parks in North Dakota are shut down, including Knife River Indian Villages and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the only national park in the United States named after a President, whose birthday was in October.

No visitor center, no rangers, some restrooms, which we can only hope someone is stocking with toilet paper. 25% of the National Park Service staff have been fired since January 2025. Look it up.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been reading lots of stories about the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt President Library in Medora in July 2026. And an equal number of stories about furloughed federal employees who are struggling to pay mortgages and buy groceries and gas, while the current POTUS holds The Great Gatsby level parties.