In a memo last month, acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron called for a review of the items available for purchase in park gift shops.
The memo says items should be reviewed for compliance with an Interior Department order to cease activities related to DEI, accessibility or environmental justice.
Like the order before it, the memo does not appear to define DEI.
Asked whether this means that any product related to people who are minorities would be impacted, a spokesperson for the Interior Department replied, “As you saw the memo, then you know that is not what it says.”
Instead, said the spokesperson, the order “directs federal agencies to ensure that government-affiliated retail spaces remain neutral and do not promote specific viewpoints.”
The review’s deadline is next Friday. The memo does not appear to lay out specific criteria for the review.
The memo was made public this week by the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy organization.
Read more at TheHill.com.
