National Parks Request Community Feedback on Representations of American History
Visitors to national parks throughout the United States are currently encountering new signage. Erected following a directive from the Department of the Interior, the signs request feedback from guests regarding information or displays that portray American history and landscapes negatively. Moreover, all parks nationwide are required to perform an audit of publicly accessible content, including exhibits, plaques, and visitor films, to evaluate any disparaging elements by July 18.
The signs, which have already been installed in numerous national parks, include a QR code for visitors to report “any signs or information that are negative about either past or present Americans or that do not highlight the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features,” as well as to indicate areas needing repair or services that require enhancement amid a staffing shortage affecting national parks as they approach the busy summer season.
“This directive reinforces the NPS mission by underscoring the significance of accuracy in narrating American history,” Rachel Pawlitz, spokesperson for the NPS, informed NPR. “Our visitors come to national parks to commemorate the beauty, richness, and splendor of America’s landscapes and remarkable multicultural heritage. This enables them to forge personal connections with these unique places, free from any partisan bias.”
The mandate to install these signs was issued to regional directors by National Park Service (NPS) comptroller Jessica Bowron, stipulating a June 13 deadline for their readiness. These measures follow a March executive order from President Donald Trump titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order requires federal sites, including the Smithsonian, to evaluate interpretive materials to emphasize achievements and unity—a vision that the Organization of American Historians describes as a “glorified narrative that minimizes or omits aspects of America’s history.”
While many people link national parks to nature, there is a broader context. According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), over two-thirds of the 433 national park sites focus on preserving and interpreting the nation’s history and culture. For instance, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, famous for its bison and rugged landscape, is credited with motivating the former president’s conservation endeavors. Building on this, park rangers provide detailed explanations of the site’s historical significance, addressing the effects of expansion and conflicts with Native tribes in the area.
The directive has also sparked concerns among former NPS directors and NPCA president and CEO Theresa Pierno. “The signs compel individuals to contradict essential scientific and historical facts that have been verified for accuracy by experts at the National Park Service,” Pierno stated. “These signs are the latest in a troubling series of administrative efforts to revise American history and weaken the Park Service. Forcing rangers to display these signs is an affront and demonstrates profound disrespect for their efforts to preserve and narrate all American stories.”
Pierno also commended how rangers have vividly portrayed American history for over a century. This has long earned them the admiration and respect of the American public, regardless of whether the narratives are uplifting or sobering. “Rangers should be able to discuss the history of Japanese American incarceration at Amache, or the history of slavery at Fort Monroe, without fear of reprisal,” the NPCA director asserts. “If our nation erases the darker chapters of our history, we will never learn from our errors.”