As Frommer’s warned earlier this week, the U.S. Department of the Interior is reportedly undertaking a petty crackdown on stickers placed over the face of President Donald Trump on national parks passes.
As a small act of protest against the politicized design of the 2026 America the Beautiful annual pass—which features images of George Washington and Trump instead of the usual scenery and wildlife—artists and small businesses had begun selling stickers to affix over the presidential visage.
But in response to the protest, the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, revised its pass validity rules, claiming in a leaked internal email that stickers on the card could invalidate it because the pass allegedly contains “important information and security features” that must not be covered.
Does Trump himself know his face contains security features that can’t be covered? ‘Cause he sure seems to cake on a lot of bronzer.
At any rate, the new pass rules suggest that sticking adhesive on the $80 card could make it useless for entry at national parks, depending on how permissive the ranger you’re dealing with may be, and the whole point of the pass is to grant holders unlimited entry for a full year.
But one clever designer has a solution up his sleeve. And the solution: also a sleeve.
Sleeves for covering national parks passes without invalidating them
Colorado’s Mitchell Bowen, whose Recollection Project customarily specializes in making vintage-style travel posters, has created an America the Beautiful National Parks Pass protective cover that replaces the current design with a handsome illustration of bison—all without relying on stickers of any kind.
As Bowen demonstrates in a social media video, his $12 invention is a sturdy, plastic sleeve that you can slide your parks pass into, keeping the pass easily accessible and fully valid while giving your tired eyes a break from perhaps the most overexposed mug on earth.
Even if the rangers at a park entrance gate ask you to remove the pass from the sleeve for inspection, you can quickly pop the card right back in place afterward, regaining your equilibrium by staring at a waterfall or an elk or something.
What’s more, the sleeve will help protect your pass from getting worn out or damaged and, best of all, a “portion of the proceeds of every sale will go to supporting our National Parks through the National Park Foundation,” according to the Recollection Project website. Given how much money Trump has taken from park budgets, supporting the foundation would be an excellent thing.
Unfortunately, the sleeves have already sold out “due to extremely high order volume,” per the website. But “they will be back,” the notice states. Follow @recollection_project on social media for updates.
While you wait, you can always get yourself any other sleeve made to accommodate credit card dimensions (usually 3.375 inches wide by 2.125 inches high).
Amazon sells cheap varieties in paper, plastic, and other materials.
Feel free to personalize those sleeves as you’d like.
