BISMARCK, N.D. — Last year, the Trump administration made an unusual request to visitors at America’s national parks: alert officials to any displays or exhibits that portrayed Americans in an unfavorable way, whether from past or present times.
However, the majority of people who responded used the opportunity to condemn the initiative, based on an Associated Press review of 35,000 public comments submitted during the latter half of 2025 and recently released through legal action.
A visitor to a park in North Carolina described the administration’s actions as “un-American.” Another person criticized the concept of “having Americans call in and snitch on each other.”
“Hey Donald Trump!” one person wrote from North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park. “Trying to erase history doesn’t mean it didn’t still happen!”
According to the Associated Press review, a substantial portion — over half, not including duplicate submissions — represented opposition to the initiative itself.
Some responses to the administration’s request identified interpretive materials that officials might now attempt to reverse — and in dozens of instances already have, according to one organization.
However, given that the National Park Service recorded approximately 323 million visits across more than 400 locations last year, the 35,000 initial public responses received between June and January and disclosed after a lawsuit represented a modest reaction.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a directive last year targeting “inappropriate content” including any signage and displays “negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”
The directive came after President Donald Trump’s order on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” which aimed to highlight America’s accomplishments and the magnificence of its terrain.
The objective, Burgum stated, was to transform sites into “solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”
A monitoring organization of librarians, public historians and data specialists called Save Our Signs, using photo documentation and news accounts, has tracked at least 59 signs that were taken down or altered.
These include signage addressing slavery, climate change, women’s rights and conservation involvement, and Native American history, according to Jenny McBurney, a government publications librarian at the University of Minnesota who participates in the organization.
“It seems to be anything that is sort of going against the ideology, this idea of America is perfect and can do no wrong, which of course we know is not true,” McBurney said.
Numerous modifications occurred at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, where the administration eliminated exhibits about the lives of nine people enslaved at the location during the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president. Some of these exhibits were subsequently reinstated following a judge’s directive before additional work was stopped after the administration filed an appeal.
Over half the responses showed evidence of organization and criticized the effort. However, many others appeared individually written.
The responses became available through a Sierra Club legal challenge seeking their disclosure. Some praised the parks, including their personnel and informational materials.
“We had a great time learning about the development of this site including the difficult parts of our American story,” a visitor to Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis wrote. “We need those reminders to help us become even better in the future.”
Others turned playful: “Didn’t see any Bigfeets,” a visitor to Washington’s North Cascades National Park noted.
A significant number, however, targeted the administration.
“Trump’s idea of having Americans call in and snitch on each other … is straight out of the fascist playbook he’s literally acting like Hitler or Mussolini,” one visitor wrote.
Some visitors reported what they considered inappropriate references to historical figures, including Black leaders, connected to race and inclusion concepts.
A visitor to Missouri’s Harry S. Truman National Historic Site reported an installation they claimed celebrated the former president as a “founding father” of diversity, equity and inclusion and a “precursor” advocate of critical race theory, or a method of examining U.S. history through the perspective of racism.
“I came here to see his hat and maybe a piano, not to read about intersectionality and ‘equity frameworks.’ I nearly choked on my commemorative root beer,” the visitor wrote.
Another person objected that signage at Virginia’s Booker T. Washington National Monument characterized the Black leader as a “father of DEI and early architect of critical race theory.”
“This sign is blatantly misleading, politically loaded, and clearly designed to push a modern agenda by hijacking a respected historical figure. It’s like naming Paul Revere the first Uber driver because he got around fast,” the person said.
The Trump administration has provided little clarity about modifications it has implemented through the program.
“In many cases across the system, flagged materials remain unchanged,” an Interior spokesperson said in an emailed statement, while not answering questions about signs or exhibits that are or will be changed.
Additional sites where signage has been eliminated or modified include Maine’s Acadia National Park, Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, New York City’s Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and Virgin Islands National Park, according to Save Our Signs.
“We hear from folks all over the country that history matters, that our national parks matter and that this is important to them,” McBurney said.
