Trump administration ordered removals of history and climate displays at parks

Internal government records and park-level directives show the Trump administration ordered revisions or removals of interpretive content on African American history, climate change, Native American history, and LGBTQ issues at hundreds of national park sites following an executive order titled "restoring truth and sanity to American History."

The order, issued in early 2025 and cited in departmental guidance, directed the Interior Department to ensure sites do not display elements that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum later directed the removal of what he called "improper partisan ideology" from museums, monuments, landmarks and other federally controlled exhibits. Park staff were asked to inventory signage and interpretation systemwide, and internal records document changes at numerous sites.

The review and implementation, pursued in spring and summer 2025, produced concrete removals. Internal records identify Glacier and Grand Canyon national parks among sites where climate and Native American history panels were pulled or revised. In September 2025, signs on the summit of Cadillac Mountain and at the Great Meadow wetland in Acadia National Park that described more frequent storms, intense rain and hotter temperatures were removed. Panels about sea level rise were taken down at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, and staff removed explanatory panels addressing slavery at the President's House Site in Philadelphia, prompting demonstrators to gather on Feb. 10, 2026. The Stonewall National Monument saw the removal of a rainbow Pride flag and a related lawsuit by LGBTQ advocates and preservationists followed.

Conservation and historical organizations have mounted legal challenges. A coalition lawsuit joined by the National Parks Conservation Association argues the administration's actions erase science and history and violate the park system’s management principles "for the benefit and inspiration of all the people of the United States." Another suit filed in Boston contends orders from the White House and the Interior Department forced park staff to censor exhibits that convey factually accurate information about slavery and climate change. NPCA President and CEO Theresa Pierno said, "The Park Service Director must reverse course on the damage that’s been done to parks and park staff over the last year."

Advocacy groups have framed the campaign as politicization of the Park Service. The Sierra Club said in a statement, "The Trump Administration continues to politicize our national parks by censoring facts to sell a sanitized version of history. Removing signage about slavery, climate change, and Native Americans doesn’t change history. Americans have shown they oppose these attempts to rewrite history, and the Sierra Club will continue to stand against the Trump Administration’s historical revisionism and ensure our public lands tell the full, honest story of our country."

Park professionals warn of lasting institutional effects. Jeff Mow, former Glacier superintendent and vice chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, said, "I think the Park Service really does take a longer view than a particular administration when they think about putting these things up," adding, "The goal of interpretive signage is you can put it out there and it stands the test of time." Critics say an undefined executive standard has produced an expansive internal interpretation that has chilled interpretive programming and altered what visitors see at iconic sites.

The disputes now center on court rulings and on whether park leadership will restore removed material or adopt new, administratively approved language. For visitors and local communities, the changes have immediate consequences: exhibits that once explained how climate and history shape specific places are being narrowed or erased, and civic groups are mobilizing in courts and on park grounds to contest the revisions.