Tump's planned trip to Mount Rushmore puts lives and a fragile ecosystem at risk
On Friday, President Trump plans to attend a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, located in the majestic Black Hills of South Dakota.
He was invited there by the state legislature, although Governor Kristi Noem, a vociferous Trump devotee, almost certainly played a role in organizing the much-hyped event. Before the legislature passed the resolution to welcome him, Trump said Noem had asked him to lift environmental restrictions meant to protect the Black Hills from the potential devastation an exorbitant pyrotechnics show could cause.
During an interview, the president said he could not believe environmental harm could be caused by fireworks because “it’s all stone.” In his typical fashion, characterized by an irrational, pernicious level of arrogance commingled with obliviousness and indifference, Trump fails to grasp or care that Mount Rushmore is in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest.
The last fireworks display at the monument was in 2009. The Trump administration’s Department of the Interior claims that an environmental assessment they performed concluded that such a show held this year would have “no significant impact.” Here’s hoping they’re right, lest Trump’s slash-and-burn politics manifest literally.
https://theappeal.org/trumps-planned-trip-to-mount-rushmore-puts-lives-and-a-fragile-ecosystem-at-risk/
= new reply since forum marked as read
So Trump's ego could cause wildfires and spread C-19 too? 
Abnormally dry conditions and a persistent risk of summer wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota make the fireworks display planned for July 3 at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial an unnecessary, potentially devastating and expensive event, according to one fire expert with intimate knowledge of the region.
Bill Gabbert, former fire management officer for Mount Rushmore and six other national parks in the region, said the controversial fireworks show that could attract 7,500 people, possibly including President Donald Trump, would be “ill advised” even when conditions are not as dry as they are now.
“Burning debris, the burning embers and unexploded shells fall into a ponderosa pine forest and ponderosa pine is extremely flammable,” said Gabbert. “Shooting fireworks over a ponderosa pine forest, or any flammable vegetation, is ill advised and should not be done. Period.”
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At least two other large Fourth of July fireworks displays in South Dakota have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/06/23/mount-rushmore-fireworks-display-ill-advised-fire-expert-says/3244196001/
