The U.S. Department of the Interior has instructed national park staff not to directly notify the public about deaths or severe injuries, according to reporting by the Washington Post.

An internal memo, issued in December and reviewed by the Post, says that Interior Department employees, including park staff and others who communicate with the media, are no longer permitted to confirm deaths or details about severe injuries that occur within the parks.

The Post reported that the memo said only “appropriate authorities” could confirm a death after coordinating with the communications office and notifying next of kin. The memo does not say which authorities are authorized to do so. According to the Post’s story, the memo said staff are allowed to confirm “that an incident occurred,” “the general location,” “that Interior personnel or partners are responding,” “that the incident remains under investigation” and “that additional information will be shared when appropriate.”

It’s unclear if any such changes are in effect at Acadia National Park, where there has been a recent slowdown in official communications. Acadia has not had a designated spokesperson since May, and a citizen advisory commission has not legally been allowed to meet because of a lack of public notice on the Federal Register.

The communications office at the Interior Department responded Friday to questions from the Portland Press Herald with a statement that said the “narrative” about the memo “is false and reflects a significant mischaracterization of the Department’s guidance.”

“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 statement read. “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.”

The communications office did not answer questions about what information staff at Acadia can provide to the public in such incidents.

The National Park Service and Acadia National Park did not immediately return emails Friday afternoon to their general inboxes for media inquiries.

Deaths in national parks, including Acadia, are rare. The National Park Service published a dashboard with data on fatalities between 2014 and 2019. Over those six years, Acadia saw 13 deaths among more than 19 million visits.

Acadia has reported one fatality so far this year. In January, the park shared a short news release on the day multiple agencies recovered the body of a 24-year-old Maryland man who became stranded near Bar Island, where a land bridge is exposed at low tide.

Last summer, the park urged visitors to take precautions after a string of emergency incidents and two separate deaths in the weeks leading up to July 4. In that case, the notice came more than one week after the first death, when a man collapsed and hit his head near the summit of Cedar Swamp Mountain.