The removal of a placard mentioning a massacre of Native Americans from the Grand Teton National Park's Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center is an example of censorship by the Trump administration, says a former Park Service ranger who quit in protest over similar decisions across the country.
In April, Melissa Dalley left her job at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in New York and joined the Resistance Rangers, a group of current and former Park Service personnel opposed to Trump’s policies related to sites managed by the Park Service.
She also helped form America 443+, an anti-censorship group named in reference to the Park Service's 433 sites around the country.
She was in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks July 21-27 on a family vacation but also to spread her message.
“We’re not advocating for any action or any political candidate; we’re saying (to park visitors), ‘You deserve to have the whole story,’” including parts that the Trump administration apparently doesn’t like, she said.
Richard Jones, a rural Park County resident and retired Forest Service and Park Service ranger, has a different view of the administration’s actions.
He said he thinks Trump and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are trying to set right the Park Service’s historical mission after years of “woke” misguidance.
“I’m certainly happy to see the Trump administration ask for these things in parks, look at them with another eye, and maybe get rid of things that aren’t really part of the story,” Jones told Cowboy State Daily.
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