Hundreds of volunteers globally have joined the Save Our Signs project to document national park signs across the United States. This initiative began last July, following a campaign by the Trump administration to censor American history and science within the National Park Service (NPS).
NPS rangers were reportedly instructed to flag and remove signs discussing slavery, Indigenous history, and the climate crisis if they "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living" or advance a "corrosive ideology." Jenny McBurney, a government publications librarian at the University of Minnesota, co-founded Save Our Signs to archive these signs before their potential removal.
As of 3 August, the project has gathered 17,236 photos, covering nearly every national park and historic site. Volunteers have documented signs at several parks where removals or alterations have been confirmed, including Acadia National Park and Independence National Park.
The removals are part of an ongoing legal dispute. A Massachusetts district judge ruled in June that the Trump administration had to reinstate all removed signs. However, an appeals judge reversed this decision in July, ruling that the interior department no longer needs to reinstate them.