Across the West, a divisive symbol of prudent government cost-cutting to some, and creeping authoritarianism and tech-enabled elitism to others, is making its way to national parks such as Yellowstone and other federally protected public lands carrying a message.
The message is delivered via a giant Elon Musk head.
Rolling along on a flatbed trailer pulled by a white Dodge Ram, a 12-foot-tall Roman-style sculpture of the world’s richest man has been moving from national forest to national forest over the last month making stops in Yosemite National Park in California, Arches National Park in Utah, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and, last weekend, Yellowstone National Park.
Sporting a well-coiffed mane, blank eyes and a satisfied smirk, the Musk bust rests under a canopy held up by pillars adorned by patriotic blue stars. A sign on the trailer reads:
“Make America Wait Again. Now With Longer Lines Thanks To DOGE Cuts.”
The sculpture is a moving protest of Musk’s work as the special government employee in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an agency President Donald Trump created to root out alleged government waste.
From February to May, Musk headed up DOGE, which has called for the termination of 1,000 temporary workers at the National Park Service and the elimination of many more workers.
Many have quit, though official numbers are difficult to come by. According to a report from the National Parks Conservation Association, which focuses on the protection of national parks, the Park Service has lost a quarter of its permanent staff since Trump took office.
That has translated to staffing shortages during peak summer travel season, according to outdoor enthusiasts, resulting in some parks curbing hours, closing visitor centers, shuttering restrooms or exacerbating wait times to enter parks.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgam has pledged to keep parks “open and accessible” and make sure parks are adequately staffed, but the demonstrators behind the Musk bust don’t believe that to be the case.
Who’s Behind It?
But who are they? They refuse to reveal themselves.
After the bust showed up at Yellowstone, an email from an address that labels itself only as “Giant Elon Head” addressed to Cowboy State Daily, took credit for the spectacle. Reached via email, the anonymous author and alleged purveyor of the bust shared the goal for the protest.
“We want to bring back awareness to the absolute insanity of the world's richest man haphazardly firing tens of thousands of employees across the federal government and the chaos that has ensued,” the email said. “One strikingly visual and fun way to do that is by showing the arrogant smirk of that billionaire in overcrowded parks now affected by staffing shortages in their high season.”
The focus, the emailer said, is strictly on the Trump administration’s cuts to national parks’ staffing.
The bust is made of a combination of 3D-printed foam, wire rebar, wood and epoxy. The person or persons responsible for the statue said there are no plans to reveal their own identities.
“We think this political pop-up protest is more interesting when the statue speaks for itself,” the emailer said. “There is fun to a mystery and it's not really about us.”
Reactions
Reactions to the rolling demonstration have been diverse.
At Arches National Park in mid-July, Nancy Charmichael, a park visitor who photographed the bust, told the Deseret News, "I think everyone thought it was kind of cool. I don't think anyone was upset. Maybe it was meant to be a serious thing, but personally, I just thought it was funny and something you don't see every day."
Karen Henker, an acting public affairs specialist for Arches National Park, told Business Insider that the protest’s message doesn’t align with reality. Lines to get into the park have not been longer this year than in previous years, she said.
At Yosemite National Park a few days later, the bust showed up in busy lines to enter the park.
Scott Carr, director of Communication for Yosemite National Park, did not address the protest directly but told KQED that “Yosemite National Park is one of the busiest parks in the National Park System and while it is still early in the summer season the park is on pace to surpass last year’s visitation totals of more than 4.1 million visitors.”
At Mount Ranier in late July, spectators posed for photos, made rude gestures or just stared at the Musk bust, Fox 13 Seattle reported.
Last weekend at Yellowstone, the sculpture spent “several hours” at the park “and took in some of the main sites,” the bust’s reported owner told Cowboy State Daily.
So where’s it off to next?
“I can’t tell you,” the emailer wrote.
