In the past few days, the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, has taken significant actions that have generated national attention and sparked debate across agencies and public interest groups. On May 22, Secretary Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3431, directing all land management bureaus within the Department of the Interior—including the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service—to begin implementing President Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order mandates the posting of new signage at federal parks and sites. The signs invite visitors to report areas needing repair or service improvement, but also specifically ask for identification of any information at these sites “that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”
The directive has been met with vocal concern. Critics, including the president of the National Parks Conservation Association, argue that by encouraging visitors to report what they perceive as negative information, the order could chill truthful, honest interpretation of America’s complex history. Major historic sites such as Gettysburg, Birmingham, and the Manzanar National Historic Site are potentially affected, raising worries that rangers and interpreters may be discouraged from addressing historically significant but difficult topics, such as slavery or wartime incarceration. The order further instructs bureaus to review and potentially remove any content, including signage, exhibits, and educational materials, that are deemed to inappropriately disparage Americans, regardless of the historical context. Additionally, a review of all public monuments and properties that have been altered or removed since 2020 is set to determine if any prior changes should be reversed, which could reopen past controversies.
Simultaneously, Secretary Burgum has been leading federal wildfire preparedness initiatives. On May 20, he and the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, signed a joint memorandum on wildfire readiness. This agreement underscores increased coordination among federal, state, local, and tribal partners as the nation heads into what is forecasted to be an above-normal summer fire season. Burgum participated in an operational fire briefing at the Forest Service’s National Fire Desk, stressing the federal government’s commitment to rapidly and effectively combat wildfires, protect communities, and safeguard natural resources.
Over recent weeks, Secretary Burgum has also maintained a strong presence in cabinet-level discussions and has been regularly highlighted in the Department of the Interior’s updates, reflecting ongoing priorities that include both conservation stewardship and the administration’s efforts to frame public interpretation of American history in its parks and public lands.
These developments reflect a busy and consequential period for the Department of the Interior, with Secretary Burgum at the center of both policy debates about the honest interpretation of America’s past and the practical, cross-agency coordination needed for managing natural disasters. The impact of these directives and initiatives is likely to be widely felt in the months ahead, as public feedback, policy implementation, and the wildfire season all progress.
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