A coalition of public lands advocates and historians has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of censoring American history and science at national parks, including several in the Mountain West.
The lawsuit, led by Democracy Forward on behalf of groups including the National Parks Conservation Association, challenged a directive from the Interior Department. The groups said park staff have been ordered to remove or edit materials that discuss slavery, Indigenous displacement, civil rights, and climate change.
The complaint cited examples across the Mountain West. At Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado, a sign describing a family's "ownership" of enslaved people was flagged. At Glacier National Park in Montana, references to climate change and melting glaciers were removed. And at Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona, exhibits about the forced removal of Native tribes were reportedly taken down.
Zion National Park was also on the list of parks ordered last month to remove or edit informational materials.
The White House pushed back against the claims, saying it is reviewing American history exhibits and calling the lawsuit "premature" and based on "inaccurate and mischaracterized information."
Supporters of the lawsuit said national parks are meant to tell the full American story, not a filtered one.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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