Lawsuit Says Winning Photo, Not Trump’s Face, Must Be On National Parks Pass
An environmental group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to replace a photography competition winner with an image of President Donald Trump on the National Parks’ America the Beautiful pass.
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the Center for Biological Diversity claims the Trump administration unlawfully removed the winning photograph of Glacier National Park from the 2026 America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass.
The America the Beautiful Pass allows entry to every national park and special fee areas on national forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands for $80 per year. Under federal law, the main annual pass must feature the top entry from the National Park Foundation’s public lands photo competition but from next year, it will instead feature a picture of Trump’s face.
The lawsuit points to the 2004 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to jointly run an annual competition to choose the image that appears on the pass. The National Park Foundation’s “Share the Experience” photo contest rules specify that entries must “capture a moment that has been experienced on America’s federal public lands and waters.” The most recent winner of the National Park Foundation’s contest was amateur photographer Akshay Joshi with his image of Glacier National Park in Montana’s Rocky Mountains. The Center is asking the court to require the Interior Department to restore Joshi’s contest-winning photograph to the main 2026 America the Beautiful pass, as federal law prescribes.
According to the complaint, the Department of the Interior instead produced a new design featuring a close-up of Trump’s face, which was not taken on federal land and was never part of the contest. The Glacier image was shifted to a newly created “Nonresident” pass, which the group argues is not permitted under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., argues that the administration violated federal law by removing the contest-winning Glacier National Park photograph, substituting the president’s image, and creating “Resident” and “Nonresident” passes that do not appear in the statute. It also includes images comparing the previous 12 years of passes — all of which featured national parks, forests, or wildlife refuges — with the administration’s 2026 design.
“Blotting out the majesty of America’s national parks with a closeup of his own face is Trump’s crassest, most ego-driven action yet,” Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center, says in a press release. “The national parks are treasured by Americans of every stripe. Their timeless power and magnificence rise above even the most bitter political differences to quietly bring all Americans together.”
“It’s disgusting of Trump to politicize America’s most sacred refuge by pasting his face over the national parks in the same way he slaps his corporate name on buildings, restaurants, and golf courses. The national parks are not a personal branding opportunity. They’re the pride and joy of the American people.”
Image credits: All photos via the Center for Biological Diversity.
