Internal memo orders staff not to reveal deaths in national parks

[BumRushDaShow]

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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No paywall (gift)

[lapfog_1]

1. this is so stupid it is criminal

In my "youth" ( age 29 ) I taught scuba driving in the Caribbean. I belonged to something called DAN or Divers Alert Network. It was subscription only, no advertisements. The last page or two was a column called "Why Divers Die"... they covered in great detail any reported deaths in the last month or so. Also missing divers, bad dive operations ( boat left before all divers recovered, etc ). I read all the case files and used that to remind myself that diving was not the safest sport, especially for the occasional vacation diver. Of course people did stupid things ( cave diving with 1 tank of air shared with 2 17 year old boys, etc ). But each report highlighted at least a few things that could have resulted in a different outcome.

Waterfalls in Yosemite claim a number of hikers almost every year. Those mountain steams ( in the spring and early summer ) are deceptively fast and powerful. rock "hiking" ( not technical climbing ) is so easy to twist an ankle or slip and fall, and those rocks are not forgiving. I don't know that the public will read or watch a report, but not releasing the information ensures that no one has any clue just how dangerous those vacations to the national park can be..

[hlthe2b]

2. Obscene--only preempts preventive messaging that could protect others in the future...

Like the three separate instances of heat stroke in the floor of the Grand Canyon where temps can reach and remain at 110F--even in the shade--during mid day. The deaths of the 23 yo (actually 22) and the young girl at Yosemite were from a known area along the waterfall that can be deceptively treacherous when too close to the water.

Bear, moose, elk attacks likewise can be prevented with strong warnings and the public release of fatalities and injuries from encounters...

Miserable Trumpist SOBS ordering this!

[Aussie105]

3. Not uncommon.

Things like National Parks and other places and forms of recreation are meant to be FUN!

And fun things aren't meant to be fatal. A well known fact, or at least an unspoken assumption.

So the numbers are withheld.

Doesn't matter if someone falls off a cliff or an Australian tourist in Bali gets killed drunk driving a hired scooter, or a sky diver has a chute problem.

Can't interfere with the FUN thing!

How many dead and frozen bodies on the slopes of Mt Everest at the moment?
Only 200.

[wolfie001]

5. The Everest thing is such a ghoulish enterprise

So, ego driven. Many in Nepal probably depend on the income but I'm sure there's a lot of behind-the-scenes corruption and shenanigans. 'Into Thin Air' was an amazing read.

[wolfie001]

4. Repukes not counting civilian deaths started with GWB's bungled as f6ck war in Iraq

Sick f6ckers. They'll hand bibles to starving families. POS party.

[Dear_Prudence]

6. Mass casualty event?

Sad to have to file a Freedom of Information Request following a mass casualty event, a flash flood, an earthquake, an outbreak of hantavirus, a toxic algae bloom, a terrorist attack, or an assassination at a national park.

[Historic NY]

7. People need to know of who get's killied and for what reason

Because hiding it isn't helping people that insist on going beyond the limits of common sense.

I believe in posting signs killed or injured.. Like trying to the pet buffalo or testing out the hot springs.

Think of it as public education. More people are dying for the perfect picture.

[Kid Berwyn]

8. NAZIs control all information.

It’s what they do, among their other un-American crap and un-democratic agenda.

“Control what they think and you’ll control what they do.”

[the_liberal_grandpa]

9. I spend several weeks a year in Yosemite Valley and

most years I see search and rescue helicopters going back and forth to Half Dome or the back country rescuing people who are injured.

I have seen bodies being flown by helicopter or walked down the trail on gurney by search and rescue.

Every year someone goes over Vernal or Nevada falls or off of Taft Point all while doing something stupid like getting that great social media video.

Yosemite never relases information on visitor deaths.

I have heard of victims families begging them to release information to try to save lives of others who may try to do the same stupid things their loved ones did but they won't

There used to be a sign near the Vernal Falls footbridge that had the photo of a young boy who drowned when he was playing in the water and got swept away. They took that down.

It amazes me that officials tell visitors that Yosemite Valley is not Disneyland and once you step into the wildernes your are in danger but when something tragic happens they cover it up. Leaving others to think they are safe standing on the ledge of a waterfall or a rock to get a photo, swimming in a raging river or leaning into the river just above a waterfall to fill their water bottles.

Believe me, there are dozens of document ways you can die in a national park.
Here is a bone chilling book of you want to read about some of them

https://www.amazon.com/Off-Wall-Yosemite-Michael-Ghiglieri/dp/0970097360