Ginny Roscamp, Senior Press Secretary, Federal Communications, Sierra Club, ginny.roscamp@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A review of official Trump administration documents obtained by the Sierra Club reveal widespread public opposition to Donald Trump’s attempt to whitewash history on public lands via the executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”. Internal documents acquired from the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) demonstrate that many of the responses are critical of Trump’s executive order — similar to the responses to the Bureau of Land Management published by the Sierra Club in August 2025. Both sets of documents were obtained by the Sierra Club through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
- Read the documents from the Bureau of Reclamation here
- Read the documents from the Bureau of Land Management here
“These responses show that Americans overwhelmingly reject the Trump administration’s attempt to sanitize history on public lands. People want signage on public lands to reflect the full, complicated truth of America’s past — not a politically motivated rewrite that whitewashes history. Public lands belong to all of us, and the stories they tell must reflect the full story of our shared past,” said Gerry James, deputy director for the Sierra Club’s Outdoors For All campaign.
The latest documents also show that BOR officials reported to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that no agency signage required reconsideration as part of the executive order, but that two changes to address derogatory site names were made in 2022.
Burgum issued a secretarial order in May enforcing Trump’s executive order from March, ordering a review of signage, websites, and other language used across the Interior Department to ensure they did not contain “descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” and instead focused on “the greatness of achievements” and “the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”
The latest documents uncovered by the Sierra Club show that public responses submitted via a QR code to BOR asking visitors to report any text that ran afoul of the executive order largely rejected the administration’s agenda. A number of comments voiced opposition to changing history on public lands, while others were critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to defund public lands and the agencies that manage them.
- From Heart Mountain Interpretive Center in Wyoming: “The Interpretive Center is excellent; it stands as a memorial to those wronged, and as a reminder to the damage that hate and discrimination can cause. This sign and form, however, are an embarrassment. Are you so insecure that you can’t admit that wrongs have been committed?”
- From Ridgway State Park in Colorado: “I think that your attempted erasure of American history is pathetic and the parks belong to the people not whatever president is temporarily in office. If you cared about our parks so much you would stop shorting them on staffing and resources!”
- From Mancos State Park in Colorado: “I have identified signs of the Trump administration. Both the president and his cabinet fail to recognize the beauty and grandeur of our national parks, forests, and BLM land and are selling it to commercial interests. They are national embarrassments and should be removed from office.”
- From Overlook Park in California: “Whitewashing history is shameful. Humans have had both positive and negative impacts, real leaders acknowledge the true past and offer multiple perspectives. This administration is a stain on our country and we hope sanity will win in the end.”
The Sierra Club is seeking additional documents from other agencies including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Park Service.
On December 9, the Senate’s National Parks Subcommittee held a hearing on several bills including S. 2385, which would codify Trump’s executive order. Several senators spoke out against the bill, including Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME).
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.