Hirono: Culture of Harassment at NPS ‘Completely Unacceptable’

HONOLULU – Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, on Oct. 13 called for action to be taken following the release of a National Park Service (NPS) survey that found that 38 percent of NPS employees have been harassed or discriminated against in the past year.

The Interior Department announced that NPS will receive additional resources to address complaints and expand training.

“Today’s announcement confirms what we’ve known for some time – there is a pervasive culture of workplace harassment in the National Park Service,” said Hirono. “Continued silence and inaction are completely unacceptable. Working together, we can provide the necessary oversight and resources to ensure that all NPS employees – regardless of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation – have a safe working environment.”

The survey also found that in the past year, 10 percent of NPS employees were sexually harassed and 19 percent faced gender discrimination.

In June, Hirono convened a National Parks Subcommittee hearing on investigating and addressing harassment in the NPS workplace. She also pressed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in a meeting earlier this year and at his confirmation hearing to commit to addressing workplace harassment.