National Park signage encourages the public to help erase negative stories at its sites

The Department of the Interior is requiring the National Park Service (NPS) to post signage at all sites across the country by June 13, asking visitors to offer feedback on any information that they feel portrays American history and landscapes in a negative light.

The June 9 memo sent to regional directors by National Parks Service comptroller Jessica Bowron and leaked to NPR states the instructions come in response to President Trump’s March “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s follow-up order last month requesting its implementation. Trump’s original order included a clause ordering Burgum to remove content from sites that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living and instead focuses on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.”

Under the heading “Encouraging Public Participation,” Bowron’s memo states: “All NPS units are required to post signage that will encourage public feedback via QR code and other methods that are viable.”

An example image of a sign leaked to NPR for Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri, the site of the second major battle of the Civil War, ahead of its potential installation, asks visitors to identify “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.” (The sign also asks for feedback concerning areas and services that need repair or improvement.)

Additionally, Bowron’s memo gives the parks until mid-July to conduct a review of all public-facing images, descriptions and other content that might be disparaging.

The review affects other Department of the Interior groups besides the Park Service – the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But it excludes properties located on Native American lands unless they fall within National Park Service sites.

“This order reaffirms the NPS mission by emphasizing the importance of accuracy in how we tell stories of American history,” Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said in a statement to NPR. “Our visitors come to national parks to celebrate the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of America’s landscapes and extraordinary multicultural heritage. This allows them to personally connect with these special places, free of any partisan ideology.”

But others have voiced concern about these developments.

“It’s pretty dangerous when you start rewriting history,” said Theresa Pierno, CEO and president of the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent national parks advocacy nonprofit. “ It’s so important that we learn from our history. To think that that could be erased or changed because visitors might prefer that story not be told – or not be told accurately – is frightening.”