Lawsuit targets censorship at Grand Teton, other national parks
Click play to listen to this article.
A coalition of scientists, historians and national park advocates is taking the Trump administration to court over what it said are efforts to erase history and censor science in the park system.
The administration has directed National Park Service staff to remove any materials unrelated to parks’ “beauty, abundance, or grandeur,” including exhibits on slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, harm to Indigenous people, climate change and pollution.
Kristin Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said national parks are living classrooms, where science and history come to life and park visitors want more than just cute stories.
"People like to know what's going on," Brengel pointed out. "They want to know if wildlife patterns are changing, if the ecosystem is changing. These are all things that visitors learn when they go to our national parks."
At Grand Teton National Park, materials featuring Gustavus Cheyney Doane, who participated in a massacre of Native Americans, were reportedly removed on orders of the administration. The Trump administration directed park staff to post signs asking visitors to send comments on anything they found offensive in park materials. Brengel noted the effort backfired when most comments expressed love for the parks and materials curated by scientists and historians.
Brengal added visitors showed overwhelming support for Park Service rangers. Their main concerns were over maintenance issues. Brengal notes there are 25 percent fewer Park Service staff members now than a year ago.
"Whether it's Yellowstone or Gettysburg, or the Everglades or Yosemite, we're just hearing continuous stories about how they have vacant positions, that they're unable to fill them because the administration has a hiring freeze," Brengal observed.
A recent poll found more than three of four Americans across party lines agree national parks should not remove photos, signs or other materials that tell factual aspects of America’s history. The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
