Biden admin Denali National Park official demands construction crews stop flying American flags during bridge construction

A construction crew working on a bridge in Denali National Park, Alaska, was allegedly ordered to stop flying American flags from their trucks and equipment. 

Granite Construction, which was hired as part of a $207 million Federal Highway Administration project to build a bridge after a portion of the road was destroyed by a rockslide in 2021, received the directive to remove the flags they were flying from two trucks and a piece of heavy equipment from Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell.  

According to a contractor who spoke to Alaska Watchman, Merrell informed the crew leader that complaints had been received about the flags and that their display detracted from the "park experience." 

“The trucks are flying these American flags, about a foot atop the trucks, about three-foot by four-foot flags, and they said they don’t want this,” the contractor explained. “They’re saying it isn’t conducive and it doesn’t fit the park experience.” 

“I understand there are rules for contractors working in the national parks, but you wouldn’t think flying the American flag would be part of those rules,” he added. 

The contractor explained that two trucks and one piece of equipment had been flying the flags since work began in 2023. He also pointed out that there were no issues with the flags until tour buses began operating nearby. 

Merrell, who moved to Alaska in 2009 and has a background in transportation planning and environmental coordination, previously worked for the city of Portland and has worked with left-wing environmental and social justice groups, per the Alaska Watchman. The anonymous contractor pointed to Merrell’s past employment, blaming her liberalism for the order to remove the American flags. 

“When these liberals get in charge of these parks, that’s how it is,” the contractor stated.