Signs warning of climate damage at ANP removed, Washington Post reports

Trump ordered removal of “improper partisan ideology” from federal institutions

MOUNT DESERT, Sept. 20, 2025 - Signage atop Cadillac Mountain warning about the effects of climate change on Acadia National Park has been removed to appease the Trump Administration which bars public displays of any information on federal property which it says undermines “the remarkable achievements of the United States,” the Washington Post reported today.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said that the signs removed from Acadia referenced climate change’s role in extreme weather that has caused millions of dollars in damage to the park. Those impacts include sea-level rise, storm surge and extreme rains, she said.

Signage suggesting visitors take a shuttle bus to minimize their carbon footprint was also taken down, according to Pingree.

“This is an outrageous assault on our free speech and ability to educate each other,” Pingree told the Post.

“It’s just bonkers to me that the federal government is imposing these kinds of restraints, that we’re taking away valuable information from our citizens who visit this park, and that we are trying to dumb everyone down and pretend real weather events don’t happen by not letting you read a simple sign,” she said.

It wasn’t clear whether the staff at Acadia was told to remove the specific signs on Cadillac Mountain or acted on its own discretion.

Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said in a statement earlier this week that all interpretive signage was under review.

“Interpretive materials that disproportionately emphasize negative aspects of U.S. history or historical figures, without acknowledging broader context or national progress, can unintentionally distort understanding rather than enrich it,” she said.

Park Service officials have broadly interpreted the order from Donald Trump in March to apply to information on racism, sexism, Indigenous persecution, gay rights and climate change, the Post reported.

That sweeping effort has also led the Park Service to order the removal of information related to slavery, including an iconic photo of a formerly enslaved man displaying the scars on his back, which was first reported by The Washington Post. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, subsequently confirmed that the photo was ordered removed from the Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia.

Separately, a display at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York City was taken down for making reference to historical events like slavery, Japanese internment camps and conflicts with Native Americans in describing the park system, according to two people familiar with the matter and photos reviewed by The Post.

“Some very new parks preserve not just lands or buildings but our nation’s ideas and ideals. They remind us of things we hope to live up to — like women’s rights and liberty — and things we hope never to repeat — like slavery, massacres of Indians, or holding Japanese Americans in wartime camps,” the display said, prior to its removal.