NPCA Position on Director’s Order and Reference Manual 43: Uniform Policy

NPCA believes the National Park Service should allow staff to participate in local events in uniform when those events are closely tied to the mission of a particular park, provide an opportunity to recruit a broad and diverse workforce and deepen relationships with a community.

Park staff can be the first point of contact for the public and can be an enormous benefit to the community when they show up and represent the special places they have dedicated their careers to protecting.

Secretary Haaland made it clear that she supports park staff celebrating and sharing the pride they take in protecting our natural and cultural resources. NPCA supports the Department of the Interior and National Park Service fostering an inclusive and welcoming workplace that strives to be as increasingly diverse as the expanding places and stories it works to safeguard. It’s important that everyone sees themselves reflected and feels welcomed in their national parks, including those who protect them.

National Park Service staff provide interpretation, ranger talks and expertise that give visitors deeper context for park sites. They tell stories about the people who shaped a place or event and help visitors find personal connections with these stories and places. This is why it’s so important for Park Service staff to be a part of surrounding communities by participating in events. NPCA supports a NPS uniform policy that ensures respect for that park-community relationship, the mission of the agency and the staff who represent it.