For at least a decade, fireworks and other pyrotechnics have been banned at Mt. Rushmore due to concerns over public health, environmental, and safety risks. But President Donald Trump doesn’t care about this and wants to put the national memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills on blast — with a humongous fireworks display.

The Washington Post notes he’s been wanting to do this since 2018, say two individuals familiar with the situation, who requested to speak anonymously. His wishes were usually scuttled or put on hold by his advisers, the individuals say.

Mt. Rushmore is surrounded by 1200 acres of forested lands dotted with ponderosa pines and lies next to the Black Hills National Forest’s Black Elk Wilderness. The National Park Service stopped the pyrotechnic celebrations at Mount Rushmore in 2010 due to worries that it could ignite forest fires in drought conditions.

A spokesman for South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) said in an email that a controlled burn was done earlier this month to reduce brush that could fuel forest fires, adding the National Park Service has deemed the pyrotechnics won’t harm the environment.

“We are confident that the Rushmore Fireworks celebration can be conducted safely,” said spokesman Ian Fury, who added that organizers are keeping up with local weather forecasts.”

According to an official with the Interior Department said firefighting resources have also been stationed at the site. But despite this confidence, some have doubts about how safe the celebration will actually be.

It’s a worrisome situation for Cheryl Schierer, who served as the superintendent at Mount Rushmore National Park from September 2010 to May 2019. During a phone interview, she told The Post that crowding so many people on to small tract of land posed “public health and safety risks, not only to the visitors but to employees.”

“It’s a bad idea based on the wildland fire risk, the impact to the water quality of the memorial, the fact that this is going to occur during a pandemic without social distancing guidelines and the emergency evacuations issues,” Schierer said. She noted that all other tourists will be banned from the park on July 3. “And you’re closing off the memorial to visitors who might not normally have a chance to visit Mount Rushmore.”

While the Parks Service issued an environmental assessment report that concluded the celebration would not have a “significant impact” on the monument or the surrounding public lands, it’s worth noting more than a dozen fires occurred here in a very short time.

That’s according to Bill Gabbert, a former National Park Service fire management officer whose job it was to oversee seven national park sites in the area including, Mount Rushmore.

In January Trump promoted the wrong-headed idea of using fireworks at Mount Rushmore in his usual ignorant way, claiming that it wasn’t clear why they are banned and saying “nobody knew why they just said environmental reasons.”

He shot down the idea that this could be risky.

“What can burn? It’s just stone,” he said.

But Gabbert notes Trump is completely wrong because the monument is surrounded by dry forest.

“My job was to put out the fires,” Gabbert said. “Internally in our discussions, I recommended that people not shoot fireworks over flammable vegetation.”

But that’s not all.

In 2000 and 2001, he recorded 17 instances of fires being ignited by fireworks. That included one instance in 2000 where a fire grew so large that it burned overnight and required a 20-person crew and a helicopter to put it out, Gabbert said.

“I think it’s insane to explode fireworks over flammable material and ponderosa pine vegetation,” he added.

As it is, a wildfire just six miles north of Mount Rushmore erupted on Wednesday, burning 60 acres. While it was extinguished Thursday 117 firefighters were required in the process.

Shooting fireworks over a ponderosa pine forest is a terrible idea. Trump is being typically pigheaded over this, but really, someone may as well just toss a lit match into the mix. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

What could possibly go wrong? Quite obviously, a lot.