National parks remove 'negative' signs

Acadia National Park

Visitors to our national parks will not see signs about climate change, slavery, World War II internment camps for Japanese Americans or massacres of Native Americans, reports Jake Spring in the Washington Post.

In an executive order in March, President Trump called for removing “improper partisan ideology” from federal institutions.

All interpretive signage is under review, said Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz. “Interpretive materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures, without acknowledging broader context or national progress, can unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it,” she said.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City, a display said: “Some very new parks preserve not just lands or buildings but our nation’s ideas and ideals. They remind us of things we hope to live up to — like women’s rights and liberty — and things we hope never to repeat — like slavery, massacres of Indians, or holding Japanese Americans in wartime camps.” It's now been removed, sources told the Post.

Park visitors want to see the wonders of nature, writes Ann Althouse. "The fewer signs the better."

Climate change signs were removed from Acadia National Park in Maine. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) calls that "an outrageous assault on our free speech and ability to educate each other."

"Let visitors think their own thoughts, read their own books, and speak to each other about what they think," responds Althouse, a retired law professor. "That's the better free speech and shared education," not the government's messages.

If there must be signs, the side that won the election will write them, notes Althouse. "At least appreciate that Trump isn't putting up signs saying global warming is a hoax."