WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit Dec. 10 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to block President Donald Trump’s image from appearing on the 2026 National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands America the Beautiful annual pass and to force the government to restore the contest-winning photo of Glacier National Park to the main pass.
The complaint alleges the Department of the Interior violated the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004 by replacing the contest-winning Glacier image — which federal law requires the government to use each year — with a close-up of the president’s face, moving the Glacier photo to a newly created “Nonresident” pass and creating Resident and Nonresident passes that the law prohibits. The America the Beautiful pass, which costs $80 annually, provides entry to national parks and many federal recreation areas, including sites used by Tucson residents such as Saguaro National Park and portions of the Coronado and Santa Catalina public lands.
“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,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director, in the group’s press release. “The national parks are not a personal branding opportunity. They’re the pride and joy of the American people.”
The Center argues the substituted photo was not taken on federal land and was not entered in the National Parks Foundation’s public lands photo contest, which the law makes the official source for the annual pass image. The suit seeks enforcement of the statute’s requirements and a halt to what the plaintiffs call the politicization of federal public-lands branding.
The lawsuit will have a local impact for residents of Tucson and southern Arizona who use the America the Beautiful pass to visit nearby federal lands. The pass covers entry to Saguaro National Park — whose two districts flank the city — as well as federal recreation sites and national forests in the region. For many Tucson-area outdoor enthusiasts, the litigation raises questions about how the government manages national symbols and whether design changes could affect the pass program or how passes are sold and distributed.
The Center for Biological Diversity describes itself as a national nonprofit with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to protecting endangered species and wild places. The group’s involvement puts a local organization at the center of a national legal fight over imagery and the scope of federal authority to design and issue recreation passes.
The case underscores a broader debate over the role of public lands imagery and whether federal property should be used to promote or reflect political leaders. The suit asks the court to require the Interior Department to follow the contest process mandated by Congress and to restore the Glacier National Park photograph to the main America the Beautiful annual pass.
The lawsuit includes these images of the contest-winning Glacier National Park photo and the main 2026 America the Beautiful Annual Pass created by Trump:
