How Far Can The National Parks Thoughtcrime Order Go?

Signage policing truth in national parks has started to score victims

Back in June, I scooped a story about new signage the Trump administration planned to install in national parks, asking visitors to report any communications they felt were “negative about either past or living Americans,” and instructing the park service itself to remove any signage or educational material it felt failed to emphasize the, “progress of the American people.” Now, The New York Times reports on park materials that have fallen victim to this nonsense already.

Secretarial Order 3431, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” implemented an Executive Order of the same name, by directing “all NPS units must conduct a review to identify any public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties (e.g., plaques, obelisks, or similar constructed features) that have been removed or changed from January 1, 2020, through May 20, 2025.”

“All positive submissions will be reviewed by NPS leadership to determine, per Section 5 of the SO, whether the removal or alteration ‘was made to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history; inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures; or include any other improper partisan ideology,’” the memo explaining implementation to park officials continues.

Now, according to NYT reporting, NPS has completed that review. What egregious violations of have they found? One example finds potential offense in a sign about ponies.

A sign at Cape Hatteras National Seashore seeks to educate visitors about Ocracoke Island’s ponies, reading in part, “…over the past half-century, climate change and sea-level rise have begun to threaten the ponies’ habitat…”

Addressing that outrageous acknowledgement that the climate crisis is real, an NPS employee flagged the sign for review, and commented in that report, “We do not believe it to be in violation, but would like someone to review if messaging of climate change and sea level rise reduces the focus on the grandeur, beauty and abundance.”

New signage the administration is posting across national park sites.

What other insidious subliminal messaging is threatening the ability for Americans to learn about our history, free of anything that might cause us to think? A sign at Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee, where nearly 7,000 Americans are buried, dares to suggest that the Civil War may have been about slavery.

“Text addresses slavery as the primary cause of the American Civil War,” reads the report written by an NPS official. “This is both historically correct and legislatively mandated, but we ask for further review to confirm it is aligned.”

Other examples provide by The Times include a display at an old plantation managed as an historic site that mentions slaves had been publicly whipped there, books at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. that cover topics like the civil rights movement, and a placard at San Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in Florida that talks about Indigenous peoples being forced onto reservations.

Separately, The 19th (an independent news website focussed on gender issues) reports that signage in Muir Woods National Monument, describing early work by a women’s club to bring protections to the area, has been removed by the park service.

One of the ways that fascism establishes dominance over the population it seeks to control is by attacking the shared understanding of what constitutes fact. By sowing distrust in media and other institutions, and twisting the historical narrative to align with their worldview, fascists seek to obscure objective reality, leaving only their party as the arbiter of “truth.”

“Fascism says what you and I experience as facts or what reporters experience as facts are irrelevant,” writes Timothy Snyder in “On Tyranny.” “All that matters are impressions and emotions and myths…To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.”

These are examples the park service itself has identified as potentially problematic. What happens when the administration itself get ahold of so-called complaints from brainwashed citizens? What disciplinary actions might be taken against park rangers themselves? And how does this all play into GOP plans to privatize the National Park Service? Stay tuned as I continue to report on these issues and more.

Top photo: NPS

Want to do something to fight attempts to steal public land, dismantle national parks, and destroy the environment? Want to go further outdoors while better enjoying the experience? Upgrading to a paid subscription helps independent journalism change minds, and buys personal access to Wes, who will use his experience and his extensive network of subject matter experts to guide your gear purchases, help plan your trips, and save you money. You can read more about what Wes is doing on Substack at this link.