DENVER — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered all national parks to post signs asking visitors to report any information that tells a negative story about the site or its history.
The order applies to all 400 sites within the land management bureau, which is made up of the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.
Burgum's order implements President Donald Trump's executive order called "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which aims to remove any stories or information that "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)" from national parks and monuments.
The parks in question include many historic locations central to slavery, Civil War battles, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, and other ugly chapters of American history.
Denver7 reached out to the National Parks Conservation Association, the 100-year-old nonprofit created to protect America's national park system. President and CEO Theresa Pierno called Secretary Burgum's order "outrageous" and "frightening."
"A lot of our history is difficult to hear, but these are the places where people are educated about many issues in our past, and it's so important," said Pierno. "How do you tell that story accurately, but you can't describe anything that might negatively impact the history? History is full of good and bad, and mistakes were made. And we try to understand that history so we don't repeat those mistakes."
Denver7 also reached out to the Department of the Interior and asked whether this order would rewrite history at our historical parks. We have not yet heard back.
The order requires signs throughout the parks to have the following message:
(Name of property) belongs to the American people, and (name of land management bureau) wants your feedback. Please let us know if you have identified (1) any areas of the (park/area, etc. as appropriate) that need repair; (2) any services that need improvement; or (3) 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 National Parks Conservation Association said work is already underway to convince Secretary Burgum to rescind his order.
The National Park Service said it expects more visitors at its parks this Memorial Day weekend than it has seen in 20 years.
