On June 4, 2026, the federal district court for the District of Massachusetts denied federal defendants’ motion to dismiss six organizations’ lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of the removal of certain displays at National Park sites. The removed materials included exhibits and signs regarding climate change and its impacts at the New York Gateway National Recreation Area, Glacier National Park, Fort Sumter, and Acadia National Park. The district court found that the organizations demonstrated at this stage that they had organizational and associational standing; that the Secretary of the Interior’s order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” was a final agency action reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act; that the order was ripe for review; and that the order was not committed to agency discretion by law. The court also rejected the defendants’ argument that the District of Massachusetts was an improper venue. The court also found that the complaint adequately pleaded the plaintiffs’ claim that the defendants acted arbitrarily or capriciously and that the complaint’s allegations were sufficient to state a claim under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

Lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of the federal defendants' removal of certain displays at National Park sites, including exhibits and signs regarding climate change and its impacts.

National Parks Conservation Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior

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National Parks Conservation Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior - memorandum and order

Filed

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression differs from the majority or societal norms

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

National Parks Conservation Association v. U.S. Department of the Interior - memorandum and order

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance