The Trump administration has introduced a “media reporting tool” that will vet every new National Park Service exhibit and sign to verify that the content celebrates America. The tool will “ensure that all public-facing content focuses on ‘the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape,’” a Feb. 4 update to an internal communications platform reads.

SFGATE emailed the agency asking how the tool would work, and whether people or artificial intelligence would perform the evaluations of the content. Katie Martin, the Department of the Interior’s communications director, did not answer the question.

The Park Service debuted the digital tool in step with other recent actions across the national park system complying with Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” They include removing materials describing atrocities committed against Native Americans, dismantling exhibits highlighting the treatment of enslaved people, and deleting information on how climate change is negatively impacting ecosystems and landscapes.  

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The approval process for new interpretative media projects and public-facing content isn’t all that’s shifted. In December, the administration began delivering sweeping new guidance to the Park Service on communicating with the media, interacting with the public, posting on official social media accounts and updating park webpages. Who has the authority to do these things, and under what circumstances, has narrowed dramatically from past practice. 

FILE: A National Park Service ranger wears a patch as she conducts a walking tour in Shark Valley, on April 17, 2025, in Everglades National Park in Florida.

Martin told SFGATE that the changes are happening “to ensure clarity, consistency and accountability in how information is shared with the public,” adding that “managing official public-facing content is a public affairs function, consistent with long-standing federal practice.” 

“This is about establishing clear lines of responsibility, not restricting speech or adding new layers of approval,” Martin wrote. “The goal is effective communication, not control.”

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Park insiders and nonprofit leaders interviewed for this story see it differently. They believe the administration’s new tool and guidance are part of a broad attempt to control the nation’s narratives by rooting out stories that feel threatening or inconvenient and silencing critical voices both inside and outside the agency. Park Service employees spoke to SFGATE for this story under the condition of anonymity, which was granted in compliance with Hearst’s ethics policy, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.

They say confusion over the new policies is rampant, a culture of fear is pervasive, and ignored or denied media requests have become commonplace. “Everything has to be approved before we speak. Everything,” one communications employee said. 

Martin dismissed the concerns. “Anonymous claims ... have repeatedly mischaracterized both this administration and how the Department operates,” she wrote. “These narratives are not grounded in fact and often reflect personal or political viewpoints rather than established policy. Federal employees are paid by taxpayers to carry out their assigned duties within defined roles, not to spread inaccurate or misleading claims about Department operations.”

Former Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis, who worked for the agency for 40 years, said communications professionals now need approval from Washington to put out simple news releases and described it as “just idiotic.” 

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The situation “exemplifies the lack of trust with the field managers, and ignorance of how parks need to communicate regularly with visitors, communities and stakeholders,” he told SFGATE. “It’s unprecedented and a mess.”  

FILE: A National Park Service ranger hands out a brochure through the ranger station window at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. 

There has always been a chain of command with the federal government’s public affairs offices. The Interior Department has one. The Park Service has another in Washington. Regional offices contain their own public affairs specialists. And each national park has its own communications........

© SFGate