National Parks Had a Record Year. Trump Officials Appear to Want It Kept Quiet.

America’s national parks saw more than 331 million visits last year, a record. But the Trump administration does not want to call attention to those numbers, according to a National Park Service memo, amid mass firings of rangers and other employees at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Arches and other popular destinations. The internal memo, issued on Wednesday, said the agency would “not issue a press release or other proactive communications, including social media posts” regarding the numbers.

Individual parks could make public visitor numbers if directly asked for them, it said. The . The Trump administration fired about 1,000 National Park Service employees in February as part of a plan by President Trump and Elon Musk to reduce the size of the federal work force.



More than 700 additional park employees also have as part of Mr. Musk’s “fork in the road” offer, and agency directors are required to report their plans for still more cuts to the White House by March 13. “The National Park Service just reported the highest visitation in its history, as the administration conducts massive firings and threatens to close visitor centers and public safety facilities,” said Kristen Brengel, the senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonpartisan group.

She said the numbers showed that Americans love national parks and warned that the cuts would mean closed campgrounds and canceled ranger programs and would curtail the ability to conduct search and rescue activities as peak travel season arrives. “It’s a slap in the face to the hundreds of millions of people who explored our parks last year and want to keep going back,” Ms. Brengel said.

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