National Parks Asked For Feedback. The Response They Got Was Devastating

Newsweek

08-07-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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The Trump administration has placed signs up across National Parks asking for visitors to report any "negative" sentiments about American history shared at the park. Instead, much of the feedback so far expresses negative sentiments about the Trump administration, as seen in responses sent to Newsweek by a National Parks Service (NPS) employee.
Over 200 responses leaked to Newsweek by an NPS employee, who has asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution, show visitors' anger and frustration at President Donald Trump's climate policies and dismay at the White House's request for feedback on language that is "negative about either past or living Americans."
For example, a visitor to Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park said: "I would like the new excuse of a government to keep their hands off our national parks. The orange one doesn't care about the beauty of this landscape otherwise he wouldn't be allowing logging.
"Please fight. Please pull us in and tell us how we can help you. Make it easy for the public to get our lands back into the right hands."
J. Elizabeth Peace, senior public affairs specialist at the Department of the Interior, told Newsweek: "We welcome public feedback—always have, always will. In fact, it's a core part of how we ensure our programs remain transparent, accountable, and responsive."
A woman holds up a sign during a "Protect Our Parks" rally at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor Center Saturday, March 1, 2025, near Boulder City, Nevada.
A woman holds up a sign during a "Protect Our Parks" rally at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor Center Saturday, March 1, 2025, near Boulder City, Nevada.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Why It Matters
A number of National Parks in the U.S. document controversial events and bloody battles in American history, including, for example, the use of Japanese internment camps during World War II and Civil War battlefields.
Some of the visitor responses shared with Newsweek expressed anger at what they say is the Trump administration attempting to rewrite some of America's history. The initiative reflects a broader federal effort to promote what the administration describes as "patriotic education" by emphasizing the nation's achievements and historical progress.
Cynthia Novellano listens to a speaker during a "Protect Our Parks" rally at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor Center Saturday, March 1, 2025, near Boulder City, Nevada.
Cynthia Novellano listens to a speaker during a "Protect Our Parks" rally at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor Center Saturday, March 1, 2025, near Boulder City, Nevada.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
Visitors Push Back on Trump
The feedback is given via QR codes which have been popping up across National Parks that tell people to report language in the parks that is "negative about either past or living Americans or that fails to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes."
One visitor to Joshua Tree said: "Climate change science says there may be no Joshua Trees left in Joshua Tree National Park in the next 100 years. Why isn't there more signage talking about that?"
"Yosemite is awesome! Stop cutting funds for staffing, research, and visitor services. I want to know ALL US history, not just what the government tells me to know. As a country, we need to know the history of all Americans, not just about white men. Hands off my parks!" said a Yosemite visitor.
"National Parks are not just about scenic beauty; they're vital classrooms for American history...Embracing unvarnished history makes our parks more relevant and inclusive, ensuring all Americans see their stories reflected. It's about honesty, healing, and building a more complete understanding of who we are as a nation," said another National Parks visitor.
What To Know
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a secretarial order to implement the signs, saying they are intended to allow parks to "remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage."
His announcement about these signs came after President Trump issued his executive order on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which aims to give the federal government more control over Smithsonian exhibits in order to "restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to 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."
Burgum quoted that paragraph of the executive order twice in his secretarial order, adding parks should be "Recognizing that the natural and historical resources managed by the Department should accurately reflect American history and not partisan ideology."
"[Parks should] take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department's jurisdiction do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape," Burgum said.
This order is clearly not popular among those National Parks visitors who have taken the opportunity to respond to his survey by criticizing this request.
Some also took the opportunity to criticize other Trump administration moves such as trying to make Alcatraz an active prison again, and firing parks employees.
Only one response out of the 274 sent to Newsweek by the NPS employee aligned with Trump's assertation that government employees are poorly representing American history.
That person said: "I am shocked by the amount of false information, false history, and other very negative to the glory of the United States that is currently being presented at the White House & President's Park Site.
"Government employees at this site are damaging the reputation of America with their never ending falsehoods, attacks against people of the United States, and misguided and incorrect view of American history and policy."
Not all of the responses to the survey provided to Newsweek mention the president, and focus instead on parks upkeep, with people asking for better signage on trails, and better trail maintenance.
A visitor to Sarasota National Historical Park said: "Better signage needed for the handicapped parking areas at the visitor's center. It's very hard to see the signs that show that there is parking up behind the visitor center which is paved nice level ground for wheelchairs."
And one hiker in Congaree National Park said: "Too many mosquitos."
This type of feedback has been thanked by the Department of the Interior.
"Since the President's Executive Order was issued, the Department has received citizen-submitted concerns about historical accuracy at National Park Service sites and materials and took actions to correct errors," Peace told Newsweek.
Peace pointed to how a visitor reported that a souvenir postcard mislabeled a nearby landmark and appeared to copy text from Wikipedia without attribution, and another visitor said a video on the Monument's website inaccurately quoted George Washington with a phrase that historians say definitive sourcing.
"The National Park Service reviewed the claims and took appropriate corrective or clarifying action," said Peace. "These examples underscore the value of public feedback in helping us maintain historical accuracy across our sites and materials."
A billboard at an intersection in Cleveland points out DOGE cuts at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Thursday, June 5, 2025.
A billboard at an intersection in Cleveland points out DOGE cuts at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Thursday, June 5, 2025.
Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo
What Happens Next
The signs do not appear to be disappearing any time soon as they are based on an executive order and a secretarial order.