I was reading the September Washington State Parks e-newsletter, which covered the remaining free days available for day visitors to enter and park in Washington’s State Parks without a Discover Pass. One of those dates is the day after Thanksgiving: Friday, November 24th. I was curious why the State Parks and Recreation Commission chose to not call it a Thanksgiving or Day after Thanksgiving free day and emailed the media department to ask them why.
Having not received a response right away, I began researching this and found the day after Thanksgiving was first made a free day to enter state parks in 2017 which was called Autumn Free Day. It remained as Autumn Day through 2021, but in 2022 the free day after Thanksgiving got a new name, Native American Heritage Day. However, in 2023, the late November free entry day was once again designated, Autumn Day. Is this all about wokeness and cancel culture towards Thanksgiving? Did someone object to it being called Native American Heritage Day?
I did receive a reply from State Parks media staff shortly before this column went to press stating, “Washington State Parks and the departments of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Natural Resources (DNR) have offered a Discover Pass “free day” the day after Thanksgiving for several years. The free day is not associated with Thanksgiving. It is the last free day of the year and coincides with autumn and school vacation for many families.”
So perhaps I’m mistaken about cancel culture, though the reply doesn’t answer the question as to why they changed the name from Native American Heritage Day back to Autumn Day for 2023.
Maybe it’s just the way things are done by our state agencies in Washington these days. A great example is the Hungarian partridge, nicknamed the “Hun” for short, which saw its name changed to the completely non-offending and uninspiring name, gray partridge, a few years ago by WDFW. Autumn Day falls into the same category. Afraid to offend any one person or group of people, you just change the name to something that won’t offend (or inspire) anyone.
Of course, that’s just my opinion. However, no matter what it’s called, November 24th would be a good day to get outside into one of our state parks instead of spending the day inside big box retail stores or in front of a computer all day shopping online.
*This article does not necessarily represent the opinion of Northwest Fishing or NW Reel Life magazine.
