For the past year, climate scientists have been skirting words that have been labeled by the Trump administration as too “woke.”
In March 2025, a memo sent out by the USDA Agricultural Research Service included a list of 100-plus newly-banned words and phrases, and instructed staffers to avoid using them in agreements and other contracts. Roughly a third of the words directly related to climate change, including “global warming,” “climate,” “clean energy,” and “air pollution.”
According to an analysis from Grist, the number of grants approved by the National Science Foundation—an agency that provides government funding to universities—whose titles mentioned “climate change” fell 77 percent since 2023. The term “extreme weather,” which researchers have been using as a synonym for climate change, rose 69 percent.
The Trump administration’s censorship efforts have also been playing out in national parks and on public lands across the country. According to Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, American history is being silenced and rewritten at national park sites in order to tell a version of American history that fails to mention topics like slavery, Indigenous displacement, and women’s suffrage.
“There has to be some level of awareness about our history, about where we’ve come from, because all these things, the good stuff, the bad stuff, the wonder, the warts, all of it is impacting who we are today,” Spears said in a recent episode of The Landscape podcast.
Quick hits
To keep climate science alive, researchers are speaking in code
National park advocates ask court to intervene in Trump’s history purge
Oil has surged since the Iran conflict, but gas prices may not be done rising
Why intentional fires can still be helpful during this dry spring
House lawmakers launch environmental justice caucus
Colorado town plans to expand recreation, reduce wildfire risk on public lands
Colorado River is on the brink of possible forced water cuts. One thing is certain: There will be lawyers
Why the battle for Grand Staircase-Escalante is a fight for all public lands
Quote of the day
There are many parks in the system where the park itself is the story. And I’m a little bit afraid that if this effort doesn’t get turned around … the next step … would be to actually think about deauthorizing some of those areas themselves.”
—Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, SFGATE
Picture This
Spring is a time of change and renewal around the park. For male cervids (animals in the deer family) like elk and moose, this means their heavy racks fall off and new growth begins. This is a natural and painless process that occurs every year.
Remember, if you’re out in the park and find something fascinating, you can take a picture of it, tell a friend about it, or even write a poem about it – but be sure to leave what you find. Don’t take antlers, artifacts, rocks, plants, or other objects from the park. #YellowstonePledge
(Featured image: A researcher on public land in Oregon. BLM Oregon, Flickr)