Former Ranger Melissa Dalley Challenges National Park Sign Removals
In the summer of 2026, former National Park Service (NPS) ranger Melissa Dalley embarked on a mission to confront the removal of historical and scientific information from national parks. Armed with copies of censored exhibits, she visited 18 parks, distributing these materials to visitors to ensure the preservation of America’s complex history.
Dalley, 49, had served as a park guide at Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in New York for four years before resigning in 2026. She is now a volunteer organizer with America 433+, an education coalition named after the 433 sites in the NPS system. The group is petitioning Congress to halt what it describes as the censorship of American history. (tpr.org)
Her activism began after President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025, directing federal agencies to review how American history is presented at NPS sites. This was followed by Secretarial Order 3431 in May 2025, requiring the agency to remove content that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” and to emphasize the beauty and grandeur of the landscape. (tpr.org)
Dalley documented the removal of a sign beneath a statue of Gustavus Cheyney Doane at Grand Teton National Park, a 19th-century U.S. Army officer involved in the killing of over 170 Piegan Blackfeet. She shared this information with visitors, highlighting the erasure of complex historical narratives. (wyomingpublicmedia.org)
In response to these actions, a federal judge temporarily blocked the NPS from removing or revising signs, films, and other materials at national parks, accusing the Trump administration of engaging in censorship. (protectnps.org)
Dalley continues her efforts, emphasizing the importance of preserving the full spectrum of American history in national parks. She plans to build a downloadable toolkit to catalog removed signs, aiming to inspire others to join in this mission. (tpr.org)
For more information on this issue, visit the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. (protectnps.org)