Facing strong backlash, Miley Cyrus removed pictures of her photoshoot in a fragile Joshua tree from her Instagram account. The controversy raised questions over social media influencers’ impact on nature.
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00:00When I saw the pictures of Miley Cyrus in the Joshua Tree, my first reaction honestly
00:21was nice jumpsuit.
00:24And then I thought, oh no, now everyone is going to want to climb these trees.
00:36Miley Cyrus, if you are out there watching this, I just wanted to say that I've climbed
00:41a Joshua Tree and had my picture taken in one too.
00:45So guilty as charged, I can't really blame you, but I know better now.
00:52They're pretty fragile.
00:53So you know, other things I've done is donate money to the Friends of Joshua Tree and help
00:59out with their trail conservation efforts.
01:02And I've scrubbed toilets during the government shutdown and given money to the National Park
01:07Conservation Association.
01:09So hey, those are some things that you could try too, Miley, and maybe encourage some of
01:14your followers to do so as well.
01:26Some people want to know, is social media hurting Joshua Tree?
01:30I think not necessarily, but it can encourage folks to just come in and out for the quick
01:36photo and not really stay longer to enjoy what the park really has to offer.
01:43We don't have to be in the picture all the time.
01:50We don't have to do a yoga pose on a Joshua Tree.
01:53We don't have to climb every rock.
01:55We don't have to touch the animals or feed them.
01:59We can just let nature do its own thing.
02:06I think this can be tied into the larger cultural moment and the lack of respect for public
02:13lands that we're seeing from the Trump administration.
02:19The upper levels of government set the tone for a lot of people.
02:36The new trend is the shutdowns with national parks being used as political footballs.
02:43And to keep a national park open during a shutdown with no ranger in the kiosk, that
02:49sends a message to people, hey, go ahead and just do whatever.
02:53And that's exactly what happened in January and December.
02:56Let's hope that never happens again.