For the third consecutive year, the traditional fireworks display at Mt. Rushmore on the Fourth of July will not take place, and it is attributed to President Joe Biden's administration.
According to South Dakota NBC affiliate KNBN, the National Parks Service has denied a permit for an Independence Day celebration at the American landmark, Mt. Rushmore.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem took to Twitter to announce the rejection on Thursday.
The best way to celebrate America’s Birthday is with fireworks at Mount Rushmore.
Today, the Biden Administration rejected them. Again. pic.twitter.com/0J4M1xaQOy
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 12, 2023
According to the Daily Caller, a letter from Mount Rushmore National Memorial Superintendent Michelle Wheatley to Wanda Goodman of the South Dakota Department of Tourism stated that fireworks displays at Mount Rushmore are "viewed by multiple Tribes as an adverse effect on the traditional cultural landscape."
“This view was expressed by consulting [Native American] Tribes in 2020 and has been reaffirmed by Tribal government representatives in subsequent meetings and letters,” Wheatley wrote.
Governor Kristi Noem took legal action after the Biden administration denied her request for a fireworks display in 2021, calling the Department of the Interior's decision "arbitrary," according to KNBN.
However, the Eighth Circuit of Appeals ruled that the objections were not relevant as the lawsuit was filed after the event had already passed and the government has the authority to reject fireworks permits at national memorials.
“Nobody has a right to shoot off fireworks on someone else’s land, whether it be a neighbor; an area business; or as is the case here, a national park,” wrote Judge David Straus.
“Each of these situations requires permission, and for a national park, the way to get it is by requesting a permit. With no substitute, doing away with this process will only make it harder, not easier, for South Dakota to remedy its claimed injury.”
The application for the 2023 fireworks permit had been submitted by the time the decision was made, though.
In a 2021 Op-Ed for National Review, Governor Kristi Noem criticized the decision of the Biden Administration to deny the permit and mentioned that Mount Rushmore is "the perfect place to mark our independence."
“Unfortunately, the Biden administration does not share South Dakota’s desire to celebrate America’s birthday at our Shrine of Democracy,” Noem wrote.
“It has arbitrarily and unlawfully denied our permit to hold the event this year, violating a memorandum of agreement that the state of South Dakota had with the Department of Interior.”
The reason behind this decision is considered petty by many, as it denies a fireworks permit at the Shrine of Democracy for July 4th due to a few Native American activists, questionable environmental concerns, and an animosity towards the politicians associated with it.
Many people consider this decision to be a disrespectful snub of a patriotic celebration for one of the greatest nations on earth, and it cannot be accepted with a weak excuse of "consulting Tribes" viewing fireworks as having "an adverse effect on the traditional cultural landscape." Those responsible for this decision should be held accountable.
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