The National Park Service removed climate change plans from website, but it may be for a good reason

Earlier this month, the government watchdog group EDGI found that the climate change plans for 92 different national park sites had been removed from the National Park Service website.

On Dec. 21, EDGI, short for Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, published a report about the disappearance of the documents, which were available online as PDFs.

The park service then responded to the report, telling EDGI that the climate change documents had only been removed temporarily so they could be improved to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards:

Under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the National Park Service, like all federal agencies, has a January 18, 2018, deadline to make electronic information and technology accessible to people with disabilities. As part of that process we are updating PDF documents on NPS.gov that are not yet accessible to all, including climate action plans for nearly 100 parks that were listed on a nps.gov webpage.

A check of the park service page "Climate Friendly Parks Program" shows that while the parks are still listed as having climate plans, there are no longer links to the actual plans. An archived version of the page, however, contains many of the climate change plans for sites like the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, but others such as Glacier Bay National Park were already unavailable.

We contacted the National Park Service to confirm that the climate change plans will be put back on the site in their improved, ADA-compatible form. This post will be updated upon hearing back.

The Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies under the Trump administration have taken climate change websites down often without explanation. EDGI has been tracking those removals.

The National Park Service has shown a commitment to making both their physical parks and websites accessible for all visitors to use, including those with visual impairments.

It's unclear how the online documents will be improved to meet ADA law, but park sites often have audio tours available and tour options in braille (Alcatraz Island National Landmark, for instance, offers both these options). The park website details their commitment to ADA law.

As 2017 winds down, it seems the park service is running short on time to improve these climate plan documents and return them to the website. As of Dec. 22, they have 27 days to meet the ADA deadline.