The Disturbing Changes to National Park Interpretive Signs Under Trump’s Directive

This summer, national park employees and visitors were tasked with an unusual request: to report signs that did not reflect American pride or successes. This initiative stems from a controversial executive order issued by President Donald Trump, leading to the removal of signs addressing sensitive topics such as the atrocity of slavery, indigenous people’s massacres, and even climate change impacts which are of particular relevance to vulnerable national park lands.

The Case of Acadia National Park

Take, for instance, Acadia National Park in Maine, where there’s a noticeable increase in severe storms and rising sea levels that are accelerating erosion, threatening native flora along its beautiful coastline. Warmer weather is affecting the movement of an invasive insect that has devastated the park’s red pines. Yet, recently, several signs detailing how climate change is impacting these conditions were removed by park employees.

“Having access to that information when you’re present in the park helps you understand the realities of what is happening,” stated Chellie Pingree, a Democratic representative from Maine. The eliminated signs not only informed visitors about environmental challenges; they also provided actionable steps that can mitigate carbon emissions, like opting for shuttle buses instead of personal vehicles for park visits.

Executive Directives and Their Implications

Trump’s March executive order mandates the Interior Department to discard descriptions that “inappropriately disparage American history, past or present”, while shifting the focus towards the “greatness of the achievements and progress of the American populace.” This order also emphasizes portraying the “beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.” Gift shop products at national parks are similarly under scrutiny.

Struggles Within the Park Service

Challenges for the National Park Service have continued to mount during Trump’s second term. Due to budget cuts, the Park Service has seen a significant reduction in permanent staff—amounting to a quarter of its workforce. This has severely hampered conservation efforts, especially as parks like Acadia handle more than 60 vacant essential positions, according to Todd Martin from the National Parks Conservation Association.

Adding salt to the wound, Trump’s administration has proposed cutting funding for the Park Service by $1.2 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. Such deep cuts during a time of escalating climate change threats endanger the beauty the administration seeks to protect.

The Effects of Climate Change on National Parks

Research shows that national parks are warming twice as fast as the rest of the nation. Patrick Gonzalez, a former climate change scientist at the National Park Service, indicated that such drastic changes primarily occur due to the extreme environments found in many parks, including high elevations, arid conditions, and Arctic regions.

Many distinctive park features are at risk of disappearing. For instance, the glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park could vanish within just a few decades, while California’s famed Joshua trees might also face extinction. Increased wildfires have already decimated 20% of California’s sequoias. Additionally, warming temperatures threaten the Yellowstone bison population and habitat loss is impacting the Florida panther in the Everglades.

Concerns of Transparency and Accountability

“As a nation, we express concern over the loss of these spectacular resources, and the public deserves to know what measures the Park Service is implementing to ensure their survival,” remarked Kristen Brengel of the National Parks Conservation Association. “Suppressing this information contradicts the core mission of the Park Service.”

Many problematic signs were part of a larger climate change response strategy established in the Obama administration, aiming to convey the realities of global warming to the public. These interpretive signs were vetted by experts before being put in place, ensuring the information was accurate.

How many more signs will fall victim to Trump’s directive remains uncertain, but several parks have reported it. For example, Great Smoky Mountains National Park flagged a plaque discussing fossil fuel pollution, while Everglades employees indicated threats like urban development could be perceived as disparaging to the industrial progress of America. Cape Hatteras National Seashore staff have questioned whether mentioning rising sea levels that threaten local wildlife detracts from the park’s beauty.

Efforts to Preserve Information

In July, the historical context at Muir Woods National Monument was stripped away, erasing narratives about the land management practices of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples. The original informative display had also addressed the problematic legacy of conservationist Gifford Pinchot and his promotion of eugenics.

Within the Park Service, morale has suffered as employees are instructed to report and censor signage. “They’re devastated,” noted Brengel. Some parks, particularly west of the Mississippi, have been directed to continue flagging signs for compliance, while rumors circulate that certain areas have been advised to supplement the removals amid “bad publicity.”

“This is far from over,” Brengel asserted. “More parks are slated for censorship. It’s a matter of when, not if.”

Grist reached out to multiple national parks regarding the removed or flagged environmental signs. Most parks deferred to the Department of the Interior or the National Park Service for comments due to restrictions on employee dialogue with the press.

Aubrie Spady, deputy press secretary for the Interior, dismissed the concerns, stating, “Thanks to President Donald Trump, Interior is ensuring that the American people are no longer being misled by the lies of the delusional Green New Scam. The content was removed based on this administration’s commitment to sharing facts grounded in real science, not fear-based rhetoric.”

Elizabeth Peace, a representative of the National Park Service, approached the issue more neutrally, indicating, “The president has directed federal agencies to examine interpretive materials to ensure they align with shared national values and accuracy.”

The removals of these signs align with a broader trend to obscure crucial climate change information. Trump’s administration has sought to eradicate climate science, dismiss watershed climate reports, slash essential funding, and disband a program that tracked greenhouse gas emissions—a direct challenge to transparency about changing climates

In response, various groups comprising scientists, academics, and community volunteers are working to recover lost data and make it accessible once more before it vanishes entirely.

The removal of “negative” narratives from national parks has ignited initiatives like Save Our Signs, aiming to crowdsource photographs of removed park signage, thus creating a publicly accessible database. The project has amassed over 10,000 photos from hundreds of sites so far, according to Jenny McBurney, one of the librarians behind the effort.

Policymakers are pushing back too; recently, Pingree and several other representatives sent a letter to National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, expressing their disapproval of the removals and requesting detailed information on all flagged, altered, or removed signs.

McBurney indicated that the Save Our Signs initiative is open to new contributions. “It’s evident that people genuinely care about our parks and wish to ensure vital information is preserved,” she stated.