A coalition of conservation and historical groups has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the Interior Department over its decision to remove exhibits from national parks.
The Trump administration recently removed exhibits on slavery, Native Americans, climate change, and LGBTQ history from the parks, which prompted backlash from those claiming the White House is trying to erase history.
The complaint was filed in federal court in Boston and targets policies coming from the president’s “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order.
The plaintiffs include the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), American Association for State and Local History, Association of National Park Rangers, Union of Concerned Scientists, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, and the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, according to a press release.
The organizations argue that the Interior Department is violating the Administrative Procedure Act by summarily ordering park staff to take down or censor materials mentioning slavery, the dispossession of Indigenous people, civil rights, and climate science.
Government censorship in our national parks violates the very ideals our country was built on – and undermines the mission of the National Park Service. NPCA and @DemocracyFwd are suing. Learn more 🔗 https://t.co/LFlubw0ZSw pic.twitter.com/RS1l7jPXHn
— National Parks Conservation Association (@NPCA) February 17, 2026
As an example, the plaintiffs point to the removal of climate exhibits at Glacier National Park and the censorship of language about Native Americans being pushed “off their land” at the Grand Canyon. The policy also targets references to “equity” at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. They claim the removals “erase America’s history and science” and contradict the park system’s educational objectives.
Alan Spears of the NPCA said the coalition is “taking a stand for the soul of our national parks” and cautioned that “censoring science and erasing America’s history at national parks are direct threats to everything these amazing places, and our country, stand for.”
The Trump administration is removing exhibits about slavery & references to massacres of Native Americans from national parks.
— Congressman Seth Magaziner (@Rep_Magaziner) February 8, 2026
This week I joined @HNRDems colleagues to sound the alarm about this dangerous attempt to rewrite our history, and the risks it creates for our future. pic.twitter.com/NeOH9CH0AY
Trump’s executive order instructs federal museums, parks, and landmarks to remove “improper partisan ideology” and content that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living” and to promote “progress of the American people” and “American gretness.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a memo directing the National Park Service to get rid of exhibits and signage that violate the standards established in the executive order.
Of particular interest was the administration’s decision to pull a permanent Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument in New York. NPR reported that several LGBTQ groups filed a separate lawsuit alleging that the removal is part of a broader pattern of the president targeting LGBTQ individuals.
The plaintiffs point out that the memo limits flags to Interior and POW/MIA banners. However, the department has made exceptions for the Confederate flag.
