Fire Island National Seashore, established in 1964, protects a 26-mile stretch of barrier island off the southern shore of Long Island, New York — one of the last remaining undeveloped barrier beaches on the Atlantic Coast. The national seashore was created after a fierce conservation battle to prevent large-scale resort development on the island. The park includes the Sunken Forest, a rare 300-year-old maritime holly forest growing behind the dunes, and the Fire Island Lighthouse, first constructed in 1826 and rebuilt in 1858. The William Floyd Estate, the ancestral home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is also part of the seashore. Fire Island has historically served as a significant cultural refuge for LGBTQ communities, particularly the communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines.
Fire Island NS in NY is one of hundreds of National Park Service sites where interpretive content has been flagged under Secretary's Order 3431. This directive requires parks to review materials that could be considered negative about past or living Americans — a standard that threatens the factual historical record these sites were created to preserve.
Why this matters: Fire Island NS is one of 466+ National Park Service sites where historically accurate interpretive content has been flagged under Secretary's Order 3431. Over 300 million people visit national parks each year. For many — especially schoolchildren — these visits are their first and deepest encounter with American history.
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