The Interior Department reportedly instructed employees not to directly confirm deaths or details of severe injuries in national parks, saying the guidance is meant to standardize communications and protect privacy and investigations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Interior Department employees have reportedly been told not to directly confirm deaths or details about serious injuries inside the national park system, according to a memo sent to staff in December.
The directive applies to park staff and other employees who communicate with the media, The Washington Post reported. The memo reportedly says employees are no longer allowed to confirm deaths or provide certain information about severe injuries in national parks.
The Interior Department said the policy is intended to make public communications more consistent across the agency, not to hide information about fatalities.
A department spokesperson told the Post that 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.”
The spokesperson said the department still provides safety updates and incident information while taking into account privacy concerns, ongoing investigations and notification of relatives.
The department continues to share information while “respecting investigative processes, privacy considerations, next-of-kin notifications, and, in some cases, requests from family members not to release identifying information,” the spokesperson said.
Fatal incidents occur regularly across the national park system. On average, about 350 people die in national parks each year, according to Park Service data.
The reported directive raises questions about how quickly and directly park officials can share information with the public after fatal or severe incidents, while the department says the guidance is designed to balance public safety communications with legal, investigative and family-related concerns.
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