The National Park Service has reported record breaking visitation last year. But the agency is now being told to avoid talking about those numbers, according to a reported internal memo.
The National Park Service’s site shows there were over 331 million visits to parks during 2024. But, according to a report from the New York Times, an internal memo issued by the Trump administration barred staff from proactively communicating about visitation numbers.
The reported quieting of these numbers comes amidst efforts by the Trump administration to cut employees at the Park Service.
Yellowstone was one of the top five most visited parks last year.
Michelle Uberuaga is with the National Parks Conservation Association.
“The only certain thing is uncertainty. There’s a lot of chaos and confusion in the parks and the communication on what’s happening in our parks is coming directly from DC,” she says.
In January, the Trump administration revoked job offers to thousands of seasonal park workers, then fired probationary employees in February.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum then announced the agency would rehire workers for temporary summer positions. Uberuagua says staffing was already lacking at parks before the administration’s cuts.
