NPS Requests Feedback Intended to Erase History

Edwards Ferry lockhouse, Poolesville, MD. Photo by Neile Whitney

As of June 13, 2025, new signs at National Parks sites greeted visitors. These signs requested that visitors “identify (1) areas that need repair; (2) any services that need improvement;” and ominously, “(3) and signs or other information that are negative about past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”

The signs are a result of implementation of a Trump Administration executive order entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” and a related secretarial order from the Department of the Interior.

This request for feedback comes at a time when the Trump Administration has been aggressively acting to remove programs and efforts that fall under the broad heading of diversity, equity, and inclusion. They seek to erase efforts to promote an understanding of dark periods of United States history such as Japanese American internment, slavery, the Jim Crow era, or highlighting resistance such as the Underground Railroad, Stonewall, and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965.

Recently NPS has faced criticism when it removed references to Harriet Tubman from an Underground Railroad website—since returned—and to transgender activists on the Stonewall website—still missing. By July, NPS staff are also charged with reviewing of all public-facing images, descriptions, and other content that might be considered “disparaging.”

President and CEO Theresa Pierno of the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), issued a statement in response to the signs:

“For over a hundred years, National Park Service rangers have brought American history to life, and the American people deeply respect their work. Rangers should be able to talk about the history of Japanese American incarceration at Amache, or the history of slavery at Fort Monroe, without looking over their shoulders in fear. If our country erases the darker chapters of our history, we will never learn from our mistakes. These signs must come down immediately.”

In a social media post, NPCA also urged people to use the request for feedback to “thank park rangers for telling the full American story”, “applaud their commitment to protecting and preserving our public lands”, and “share how you appreciate the national park site so much more because of National Park Service staff’s historically factual interpretations.”

The National Parks Traveler, an independent journalistic outlet that covers the National Parks System, urged its readers to provide Department of the Interior Secretary Douglas Bergum with comments and suggestions related to recent cuts to staffing and funding for the NPS.

The same tactic might also be taken to let the Secretary know how much we value the NPS for engaging with difficult and uncomfortable truths or for bringing to light once-hidden people whose resilience and courage have made this country a better place.

Park visitors are requested to provide feedback at the NPS sites via a QR code or by visiting the NPS feedback page, here. The feedback survey asks users to identify the park being commented on, the topic of feedback (areas that need repair, services that need improvement, signs and other information, something else), and to give feedback through an open-ended answer.

Note: National Park Service sites in Montgomery County include the C&O Canal National Historical Park, the Clara Barton National Historic Site and Glen Echo Park.