Judge Orders Restoration of National Park Signs

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) – A federal judge in Massachusetts has instructed the Trump administration to put back all signs that were altered or taken down at national parks nationwide as part of President Donald Trump’s controversial directive from last year.

In a critical 63-page ruling on Friday, Judge Angel Kelley stated, “Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths.”

Kelley, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, mandated that the restoration must be finished by July 3, just before the nation’s 250th birthday. In her decision, she also prohibited the Trump administration from making any further changes to exhibits in national parks.

An Interior Department spokesperson criticized Kelley in a statement to CNN as “a liberal activist judge” and hinted that the department might appeal her ruling.

“The Department will look at our appeal options while we celebrate UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House this weekend in honor of our nation’s 250th with the greatest president in the history of our country – President Donald J. Trump,” read the statement.

Friday’s decision follows a lawsuit filed by a coalition of conservationists and advocates in February against the Interior Department and the National Park Service. They accused the administration of “mounting a sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science.”

In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directed the Interior Department to “take action” against public content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

According to Save Our Signs, an advocacy group monitoring changes to NPS displays, under this directive at least 45 signs covering topics like climate change and Native American history were modified.

One example mentioned in both February’s lawsuit and Friday’s ruling involved a marker at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It highlighted 19th-century explorer Gustavus Cheyney Doane’s involvement in killing at least 173 members of the Piegan Blackfeet but was removed.

At Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina, a sign detailing climate change impacts-like how “rising seas could inundate most of the fort’s walls and flood the historic parade ground”-was completely taken down.

Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association-one of those who filed February’s lawsuit-celebrated Friday’s ruling. He told CNN it represents a “big damn deal.”

“This is, we think, a good, favorable, just ruling from the judge that puts a stop, at least temporarily, to the sanitization, censorship and softening of history as it’s told in our national parks,” Spears explained. He added that this ruling would allow visitors to national parks to return to receiving “the full scope of American history from our national parks and the interpretation that our parks provide.”

Spears described national parks as “one of the largest stewards of American history and culture in this country.”

“So when you start messing around with how park service interprets things that’s problematic because they’ve worked throughout their entire existence-and especially over these last 30 years-to tell stories that are more accurate and inclusive so people care about our parks,” Spears continued. “They want folks engaged with both America’s past and being better caretakers for future generations.”

Kelley emphasized similar points about educational importance when she spoke about national parks as being “a cornerstone of public learning.”

“Often referred to as ‘America’s largest classroom,’ National Parks serve in that spirit by telling stories both from those who write history and those who go unheard,” Kelley wrote. “The beauty of history is found within unvarnished storytelling from times gone by along with undeniable truths.”

“The Government’s stewardship over these park sites thus carries responsibility for presenting complete histories instead fragments favoring certain narratives. Unfortunately,” she noted,”the Government has overlooked these principles.”

The-CNN-Wire
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