Internal memo orders staff not to reveal deaths in national parks [View all]
Source: Washington Post
June 24, 2026 at 5:46 p.m. EDT
On Friday, a 17-year-old girl drowned in Sequoia National Park after slipping into a river. On Saturday, a 23-year-old man died after falling over a waterfall in Yosemite. The same weekend, a body was found in the desert at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, while a motorcycle accident killed one person in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But recent internal guidance prohibits park staff or other Interior Department employees from directly notifying the public about the deaths. The department, which oversees the National Park Service, had not issued any statements on this weekend’s deaths on the department website or social media as of Wednesday afternoon.
The memo, issued in December and reviewed by The Washington Post, states that Interior employees, including park staff and others who communicate with the media, are no longer permitted to confirm deaths or details about severe injuries, a restriction that current and former rangers say breaks with the department’s previous disclosure policy. An average of about 350 people die in national parks each year, or about 7 per week, according to Park Service data. That represents a small fraction of the more than 300 million people who visit each year, with park advocates and staff emphasizing parks are generally safe.
“The guidance was developed to create a more consistent approach to incident communications across the Department and is not intended to conceal fatalities or delay information,” Interior press secretary Aubrie Spady said in an email. “We continue to provide public safety information, statements, news releases, and incident updates as appropriate, while respecting investigative processes, privacy considerations, next-of-kin notifications, and, in some cases, requests from family members not to release identifying information,” she added.
Seven current and former National Park Service staffers, however, said the policy marks a shift from the agency’s long-standing approach to release as much information as possible. The current agency employees spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2026/06/24/internal-memo-tells-staff-stay-mum-deaths-national-parks/
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