Park Service Forced to Report Information on Slavery, Climate Change, For Potential Erasure from National Parks

WASHINGTON – In accordance with President Trump’s executive order to “Restore Truth and Sanity,” and a related directive by Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the administration is forcing National Park Service staff to inventory its signage and interpretation to meet standards that are not based on historical scholarship or science. The internal deadline for all national parks to submit content for review was Friday, July 18.

First reported by Politico’s E&E News and The New York Times, these submissions include invaluable information about history, ecology and science at national parks. This information could be physically removed, if the Department of the Interior determines that it is too negative about Americans past or present, or fails to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features at these national park sites. Examples submitted so far include:

Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Louisiana: exhibits discussing the history of slavery in America. The signs currently name slaveowners and discuss how enslaved people were whipped and punished for seeking their freedom.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina: exhibits discussing sea level rise and shoreline erosion—this is part of the dynamic ecology of this barrier island.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in Florida: exhibits discussing how the United States government imprisoned Native Americans and threatened them with extinction.

Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve in Florida: exhibits with graphic imagery about the horrid treatment and conditions that enslaved Black Americans lived under at Kingsley Plantation.

This news follows recent directives by the Department of the Interior that forced Park Service staff to post chilling new signage at all national parks, asking visitors to report negative information about history or natural resources. The signs come with a QR code and have produced overwhelmingly positive comments from visitors praising national parks and their staff, and condemning efforts to erase history or other vital information from parks.

The National Park Service, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, is mandated by law to preserve, protect, and interpret American history per the 1916 Organic Act and 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. More than two-thirds of the country’s 433 national park sites are dedicated to preserving and interpreting our nation’s history and culture. The agency manages more than 26,000 historic structures, and nearly 185 million historic artifacts.

Alan Spears, National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director for Cultural Resources said in a statement:

“The stories protected at our national parks bring us closer together as a country, not further apart. Our history is complex and as national park advocates, we trust national park staff to navigate those complexities and do their jobs without interference. Great countries don’t hide from or sanitize their history. Great countries confront and commemorate their past, good parts and bad. Great countries learn and heal together. That is the work the Park Service helps us do. Anything less diminishes the service and sacrifice of previous generations who helped to make us who we are today.

“If park staff don’t comply with this directive, they may lose their jobs. Policies like these do not help Park Service staff protect these incredible places. The administration is making their jobs harder and killing their morale, at a time when Park Service staff numbers dwindle near historic lows.

“Our national parks provide an immersive experience, helping visitors of all ages learn about nature and history. National park staff have made tremendous strides in recent decades, teaching the facts about difficult topics like slavery, racism and climate change. If some of these proposed changes are made, visitors may miss out on the full picture of history and nature that they deserve at our parks. Americans count on our parks to tell truthful stories and accurate information. The public can handle the truth.”

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