The National Park Service has issued a new rule that electronic cigarette use will be banned anywhere smoking is prohibited on national parks and monument grounds.

“Protecting the health and safety of our visitors and employees is one of the most critical duties of the National Park Service,” said NPS director Jonathan Jarvis. “We are therefore extending the restrictions currently in place protecting visitors and employees from exposure to tobacco smoke to include exposure to vapor from electronic smoking devices.”

Jeremy Barnum, a spokesman for the Park Service, says if a park superintendent now decides to restrict outdoor smoking for reasons such as preventing forest fires, that restriction also would apply to electronic cigarettes.