Interior Secretary Burgum Says He's "Completely Unaware" of QR Code Signs at National Parks
Burgum doesn't remember his own order mandating these signs to be put up.
If our national parks and public lands weren’t in enough trouble already, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum showed his complete and utter incompetence in a shocking response to worrisome policy unfolding in our national parks.
When asked by Scripps News about newly installed signs at Park Service sites—urging visitors to report any “negative” information about American history—Burgum claimed it was the first he’d heard of it.
He said, in front of a camera, that he’s “completely unaware of this.”
What the hell?
Burgum himself signed a secretarial order on May 20, 2025, directing NPS staff to put up these signs, which ask visitors to report on “any signs or other information 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.”
His own signature is literally directly underneath that section of the order—on the very same page—which details the exact words that are now on signs all over the parks.
It’s not that this was buried somewhere in the middle of the document. And even if it was, wouldn’t you expect the Interior Secretary to read and understand the order that he, himself, signs?
It’s beyond obvious now that national park management is an afterthought for Burgum, who’s supposed to be running the very department that oversees them.
Burgum Says He Doesn’t Know About QR Code Signs at National Parks
Here’s the transcript from the interview:
Reporter (off-camera): “Millions of Americans visit the parks every year, especially over the summer, and some have started reporting signs that they’ve seen—I just want to quote so I don’t get it wrong—it says, asking visitors to these parks to report, quote: ‘any signs or other information that are negative about past or living Americans.’ Can you speak to what’s the impetus for those signs, what it is that you’re asking Americans to report?”
Burgum: “I’m not even… I’m not even understanding the question. Could you repeat that for me?”
Reporter (off-camera): “Yeah, so there are signs that have popped up at a number of national parks…”
Burgum: “Signs? Like a physical sign?”
Report (off-camera): “Yeah, like a physical placard or something like that, that asks Americans to report any signs or other information they’ve seen that shows any negative information about current or former Americans. Is that anything your office is aware of?”
Burgum: “Uh, first I’ve heard about it is right now. And I’ve been at national park units this very week. So, I’m completely unaware of this.”
Watch the video below and try to not let your jaw drop.
This new policy isn’t subtle either—it is a blatant attempt to sanitize our national narrative and censor complexity. It’s an attempt to whitewash U.S. history at the very places that are meant to interpret historical and current event.
The visitor feedback so far has been striking: nearly 200 responses, and not one example of “negative” content flagged.
You can read some of those responses here in one of my earlier articles.
There are really only three options here to explain this shocking interview.
One, Burgum truly forgot his own order. That means he’s incompetent beyond words. It would be amateurism on a mind-blowing level.
Two, he actually did know and still feigned ignorance, while smiling in front of a rolling camera. That would be even worse. It would be a flat-faced lie told directly to all Americans.
Three, Burgum is not in charge of the Interior Department at all. Did he actually sign that order himself? It sure looks like it could very well be an electronic signature that anyone could add to the document. That begs the crucial question: who is running the Department of the Interior? Who’s determining policy at the National Park Service?
Whatever scenario is true, this is also true: this interview, and the things Burgum admitted in it, should require him to resign immediately.
BS