Robbie Bond has spent his summer touring national parks and monuments in the U.S. But the 9-year-old isn’t just on an extended vacation. He’s trying to save the 27 national monuments that are under review by the Trump administration – including Gold Butte and Basin and Range here in Nevada.
We talked to him as he was between hikes Thursday. He had just visited Gold Butte and was heading to Basin and Range.
“I really like it. It’s a lot like Grand Staircase and Bears Ears, but it’s still really different from them,” he said of Gold Butte.
Robbie is touring the country with his parents, using the national parks annual Every Kid in the Park pass, given to all fourth graders, which he got last year. The trip was already scheduled as a year-long adventure. But when Robbie and his parents found out that some of the national monuments were under review, he created a non-profit Kids Speak for Parks, where he is collecting signatures to send a message to the Trump administration that monuments in question need to be protected.
“I’m from Hawaii and one of the monuments that’s on the list is called Papahānaumokuākea …. Since that’s where I live it would be really sad if it gets destroyed,” Robbie said.
Besides concerns about monuments in his home state, Robbie's inspiration came from the film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic "The Lorax." In the book and the movie, The Lorax speaks for the trees.
“Its moral is kind of don’t hurt the environment or bad things will happen,” Robbie said.
He also has a Facebook page, detailing his adventures.
Robbie has been to eight parks so far - Giant Sequoia, Carrizo Plain, Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Escalante, Sands of Snow, Mojave Trails, Gold Butte and Basin and Range.
Robbie Bond, Kids Speak for Parks
