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This interpretive sign describing both the Smokies natural haze and the impact of air pollution on the park are among the numerous signs and exhibits targeted for removal from Great Smoky Mountains National Park by a Trump executive order. Save Our Signs

Trump executive order targets history, science and culture in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This story was originally published by Compass.

GATLINBURG ­— The Trump Administration’s war against “woke” appears poised to extend to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Ten interpretive signs within the park referencing slavery, science and the Cherokee are included in a leaked dataset of national park educational features subject to removal, according to a Compass review of the now publicly available document.

The signs are subject to removal per the “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order from President Donald Trump, issued in March 2025.

Pierce Gentry at WUOT first reported the inclusion of the Smokies in a massive leaked database that lists hundreds of Department of the Interior sites with signs, exhibits, films and publications that the administration deems offensive.

The Department of the Interior and National Park Service have already removed signs from park-service units elsewhere, including displays at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia that highlighted the people enslaved by George Washington during the Revolutionary War era. A lawsuit is pending.