Administration Doubles Down on Erasing History and Silencing Science in National Parks

Late last week, The Washington Post reported that signs in national parks across the country disappeared, along with accompanying webpages documenting climate change impacts, slavery and Japanese American incarceration.

These actions follow an alarming effort to erase history at Independence National Historical Park and Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park displaying the difficult truths of America’s past and the nature of slavery. Now, that censorship reaches even further into undeniable truths based in lived history and unimpeachable scientific research, targeting climate change and Japanese American incarceration, in addition to slavery.

In addition to the National Park Service Climate Change page, specific webpages have been removed including:

• Hawai’i Volcanoes’ climate change information, including the damage the native ecosystem has suffered from a century-long history of drought.
• Jean LaFitte National Historical Park and Preserve’s climate change information, including the relationship between climate change and changes in wildfire and rainfall patterns, increased frequency of extreme weather, rising sea levels and more intense hurricanes. San Antonio Missions’ climate science page, which uses scientific evidence to educate the public on warming trends and resulting heat island areas, especially urban areas.
• Lake Mead’s webpage on its shifting environment, including more intense weather events, rising temperatures across the globe, shrinking ice sheets and glaciers, and rising levels of carbon dioxide, all related to climate change.
• Lowell National Historic Preserve’s information on the Industrial Revolution and resulting climate change impacts.
• George Washington Memorial Parkway’s documentation of climate impacts, including heat/temperature changes, sea level rise, increased frequency and severity in rainfall, ecosystem changes and effects on roads.

A display honoring and describing the National Park System at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City was taken down for referring to historical events like slavery, Japanese American incarceration sites and conflicts with Native Americans in describing the park system, according to sources and images reviewed by The Post.

In 2016, a bipartisan Congress unanimously agreed high-quality interpretation and education is an essential part of the park experience. The administration’s policies will have a chilling effect on this important work, potentially for generations to come.

Statement from Kristen Brengel, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA):

“For the past nine months, the current administration has threatened the existence and integrity of the National Park Service by reducing personnel and removing educational materials that speak to America’s history. NPCA has spent months speaking out against actions that deny the legacies spread across America’s parks, battlefields, monuments and historic sites. And we are not backing down.

“At the end of the day, the current administration’s guidance obstructs the Park Service’s indisputable mission to produce and disseminate interpretation and education that park staff work painstakingly to provide. When visitors arrive at a national park, they can expect to learn about the sites and those who came before us. As much as people value the scenery, visitors appreciate how our parks tell the stories of our nation.

“This directive to take down signage and webpages undermine park visitors at every turn. Stripping this history and science away strips our national parks of their integrity. Knowing that even workbooks for junior ranger programs could be removed from parks is a stunning reversal of the education mission of our parks and disrupts the very foundation of the National Park System.

“Since their founding more than a hundred years ago, national parks have never faced a more dire and existential threat than climate change. Communities have experienced flooding, fires and drought, as well as more frequent and intense extreme weather. Silencing science won’t stop climate change. It only leaves our parks and communities less informed and more vulnerable than ever.

“This administration has a responsibility to preserve the national parks and live up to the mission agreed upon and upheld by Congress itself by maintaining the places Americans pay to manage and enjoy with their families. Instead of tearing down signs and undermining their own staff, we urge the administration to defend parks from this looming threat and support sound science.”

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About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org