On Thursday, the Trump administration ordered the US agriculture department to remove its websites documenting or referencing the climate crisis.
By Friday, the landing pages on the United States Forest Service website for key resources, research and adaptation tools – including those that provide vital context and vulnerability assessments for wildfires – had gone dark, leaving behind an error message or just a single line: “You are not authorized to access this page.”
In a directive issued by the United States Department of Agriculture’s office of communications, officials instructed website managers across the agency to “identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change”, according to Politico. It also included a Friday deadline to list the mentions in a spreadsheet for further review. As of publication, the USDA’s Climate Hubs – helpful sites that connect producers to local programs and research – are still live.
The move is just one in a dizzying flurry of orders issued in the first two weeks of the Trump administration as it attempts to drastically reshape the federal government and halt key investments made to blunt the effects of global heating.
Trump repealed environmental protections put in place by Joe Biden, declared a misguided energy emergency to hasten already-booming fossil fuel extraction, and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.
The administration also added confusion and chaos within federal agencies by halting hiring and pausing projects, along with issuing a widespread buyout offer that would guarantee federal workers pay and benefits through September 2025 if they resign within the next week.
It is unclear what the agencies will do with the websites or the policies and studies once detailed on them; links to the landing pages are still live, even if the information on each page has been blocked.
But the sites featured important tools and information to help mitigate the effects of climate change and research. For now, the administration has effectively barred access to dozens of programs set up to help a wide range of communities – from farmers to firefighters – as they navigate changing conditions.
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The USFS and the Department of Agriculture did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
