FOIA Records Reveal Pushback from Public Lands Visitors Against Interior’s History Order
Washington, DC – The Coalition for Outdoor Renaming and Education (CORE) today released Bureau of Land Management records obtained by coalition partner Sierra Club through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) related to Secretarial Order 3431: “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”, issued in May by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
The order directs agencies to review signage, websites, and interpretive materials across national parks and public lands to ensure they do not contain “descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living,” and instead highlight “the greatness of achievements” and “the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”
The FOIA records include a subset of visitor comments collected through QR codes posted at sites nationwide. In their report to the Secretary, BLM officials noted that none of the signage they reviewed required reconsideration.
Examples of public comments include:
“History should be told accurately whether it hurts your snowflake feelings or not.” — Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin
“Whitewashing history benefits no one and dooms us to repeat past atrocities.” — Four Dances Recreation Area, Montana
“This BLM sign itself clearly has the character of a Stalinist, Communist East German or North Korean government directive… deeply un-American.” — Upper Klamath Campground, Oregon
“Keep American history honest, don’t whitewash the past to make it Disney.” — Goose Island Campground, Utah
“This site needs to emphasize that this land was STOLEN from the American Indians… The public needs to know about the negative actions done by white people to Native Americans, not pretend as if it didn’t happen.” — Sundance Lodge Recreation Area, Montana
“Requesting removal of anything from signage discussing the history of this country that is negative is in and of itself offensive. Truth and sanity is acknowledging actual facts regardless of how it makes a bunch of sensitive little snowflake white people feel.” — Black Rock High Rock, Nevada
“These records make clear that visitors themselves are pushing back against attempts to alter how history is told on our public lands,” said Gerry Seavo James, Deputy Director of Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All campaign and Policy Chair for CORE’s steering committee. “The feedback documented here shows people value accuracy and completeness when it comes to interpreting the places that tell our nation’s story.”
Earlier this week, CORE released a national sign-on letter joined by more than 120 organizations calling for the rescission of Secretarial Order 3431. Read the letter here.
The FOIA-obtained documents are available here