Planning is beginning to reopen parks, but there's no timeline on how those openings will be handled/Rebecca Latson file
While more than 52,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, and the global death toll has passed 200,000, political and economic pressures are mounting for a return to pre-coronavirus economic activity. While the National Park Service is beginning the planning to reopen parks that have been closed by the pandemic, there's no firm timeline yet for when those openings will occur.
For park managers, they'll have to weigh the risk of spreading the virus against economic pressures from their gateway towns.
"Whereas four weeks ago there was near unanimity on the temporary park closure, that is starting to shift substantially, and I expect it will continue to shift even more in the upcoming weeks," Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly told the Traveler on Friday in an email. "Over $1 billion spent by visitors in local economies within 60 miles of Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Many of our partners in gateways are stressed; they want to be safe and cautious, but also are feeling major economic strains. This will get worse as time progresses."
Businesses in those gateway towns typically are starting to ramp up operations for the summer, but right now "you’ve got people without paychecks, furloughed, their livelihoods are dependent on these parks being open," said Sholly. "That doesn’t mean we open unsafely, but people are having very real challenges and those need to be considered."
In an email Saturday to regional directors and park superintendents, acting National Park Service Director David Vela said he and his deputies were working with Interior Department officials "on the framework for a gradual resumption of operations."
"The safety and health of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners continues to be paramount to our operational approach," Vela continued. "Decisions on a phased recovery of operations will be made in each park or support office based on what is occurring in the respective state and local community. White House guidance requires certain conditions be met to understand the status of the pandemic in a particular area of the country before phased recovery may begin."
"I expect the visiting public, when we do open, to take responsibility for adhering to local, state, and national health guidance. The NPS is not going to be the social distancing police." -- Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly.
At Grand Teton National Park, "our operational approach will be to examine each facility function and service provided to ensure those operations comply with current public health guidance," said Denise German, the park's spokesperson. "Decisions on a phased resumption of operations are being made on a park-by-park basis and regularly monitored.
"One of the most critical issues we are working on is the significant impact the COVID 19 pandemic has on our ability to onboard seasonal employees," she continued. "A key consideration with the onboarding of seasonals is protecting them from the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in shared housing. At this time, about 55 seasonal employees will be onboarded prior to May 24 that work mission-essential duties (e.g. first responders, maintenance, etc.)."
Back at Yellowstone, the superintendent predicted a conservative approach to reopening, but one that can be ramped up "quickly if conditions are favorable, or contract if they are not."
"Safety of our teams is paramount. We are developing a wide range of mitigation actions to put into place for team members who may be in direct contact with the public," said Sholly. "We haven't finalized the plan, but what you will likely see is a phased approach, with limited facilities initially, then more facilities coming on line as we progress through time, if it's safe to do so."
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Comments
Whether they open this week or next month, fast or slow, it will make no difference. The virus will not be gone and it will be waiting for us. This economic shut down must end now. Here are Trump haters Bill Maher and Dr. David Katz, explaining why:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lze-rMYLf2E
Open! Open! Open! PLEASE!!!! For the love of our people, our families FOR OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!
Are they going to be selling bleach injections at visitor centers?
A pretty good, balanced interview. I will admit when you mentioned Bill Maher I was skeptical, although he didn't disappoint with his predictable, ignorant President Trump rant. Most, but not all, of the advocates for a perpetual shut down have an independent source of income. As a person in the high risk group with age and earlier bypass surgery I don't want to have my last breath sitting in a chair while waiting for the world to end. The 39 NPs, many NHS, NMs, & NWS that my wife and I have visited I am hopeful are the beginning and not the end of our experiences.
Halleluja sunsetryder! I'm in the high risk category but I'm anxious to get back to nature & contine visits to all these glorious destinations to hopefully complete my bucket list. Sitting around home don't cut it!
The positive is the camping can easily reopen because the threats of Infection in tho great outdoors is Extremely LOW as long as you stay away from going indoors and coming into close to others. Camping and fishing and hiking with the people you love with is Extremely safe
You would think the powers that be would take note that the grocery store checkout clerks, who for weeks cwent without mask or any type of barrier between them and thousands of cutomers checking out, haven't been dropping like flies. You have to be some kind of special idiot not to see that this is no longer aabout protecting the public. It never was. Shelter in place was meant to prolong and not prevent Covid-19 deaths. We were only trying to keep from overwhelming the hospitals and it's now painful;ly obvious we never will. OPEN UP RIGHT NOW!!!
Our grocery store employees have been testing positive. Perhaps it's due to the meteopolitan area we live in, there are over a million people here. But, perhaps that's the point. If you live in a less densely populated area, there are fewer people to expose you to the virus. So open the parks, but expect a large jump in the number of people infected. It's simple math, probability. With most of our nation's population untested to see if they are carriers, and with most of the visitors to these parks being from out of state locations, expect the numbers to go up. As long as people are willing to risk the lives of their family members, I day go ahead and open.
What about the lives of the rangers and park staff who maintain these places? What about THEIR lives?
I believe that they, like a worker anywhere else should not be forced to work. The question is, are their jobs at risk if they don't. I think we should set some threashold of cases/deaths that once they drop below that level, the job is at risk. We don't let people stay at home for fear of pneumonia or enfluenza. Oh, and BTW, since the beginning of Feb, pneumona and enfluenza have killed 50% more people than Covid according to the CDC report as of 4/25/2020 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm
So, how many visitors is a ranger's life worth, Buck?
It's not risking our lives. The majority of oriole who do get Covid-19 will recover. If one feels they are high risk, then they should not go to a public place that may be crowded.
Open them. If you are not comfortable then don't go there. If you follow good clean protocol, it doesn't matter if you are in the middle of NYC or the Everglades.
No! It's still too early. Cases haven't even begun to peak in some states.
Never will? Already done in NYC. If they had not sheltered in place not only would there have been covid deaths from overwhelming the hospitals, but deaths of normal accidents and illness that could not have been treated.
Boy, Mr. Obvious has drunk the trump koolaid in large amounts. Yea, instead of intelligent social distancing, crowding people together without PPEs will actually decrease the advance of the virus!~. Makes total sense to trump accolytes. To hell with science - the earth is flat and the climate ain't warming up!
No, no, no!!! Parks need a break!
" Parks need a break". They have had a break, but like it or not National Parks are the only driver of many local economies. Outdoor recreation is safer than being inside of buildings and there is plenty up demand to recreate. Cross our fingers that, for the most part, people will do their best to safely distance.
If Parks need to limit entry to reduce crowding, that seems like a reasonable solution. I will wait till fall, so the kiddos that don't understand social distancing are back in school.
Am in a park and I assure you that we are quite finished with our break.
After Trump cut the dining of the NPS, this is exactly the last thing that it needed. Summer months help fun the NP's essentially. Even with high visitor rates, they don't have enough money for proper funding. With That being said, parks should re-open as the state sees fit. For example, Arches may not be one to reopen due to it spreading in Moab, but should allow Capitol Reef to reopen.
i hear all these "nay sayers" but there have been several thousands cases in the US. At these parks the volume of visitors are phenomenal. I can understand the NFS trying to keep their employees safe. a good soft open would be to open the campgrounds but keep the restrooms, showers and visitor centers closed. Just my 2 cents worth.
Where di you go to the bathrooom if the restrooms are closed.
They go on the ground and leave a huge mess just like they did before my park was officially closed. Yea the bathroom thing was done before closing. Just a huge mess.
Ad far as bathroom you brought you take it with you. There are hundreds of portable toilets out there. Dispose at home. Back woods/kayakers have been doing this for years. If you can't handle your own ***( you don't belong.
Because basic clean hygiene doesn't help fight the spread? People are still using the restrooms at Wal-Mart. People are still touching ATM machines. People need to be able to wash their hands and shower. I bet the campground prices wouldn't be less even though they would be offering less services. And since most campers would stay in the park if those services were offered, they would be less likely to go into the towns seeking them out.
Where would all the Campers use the Restroom?
So you think it would be better for visitors to come into my park and use the facilities on the ground and create a sanitation nightmare? No thank you. We closed the bathrooms before we closed our park and it was a disaster. I understand your thoughts but they aren't practical.
They can't open without bathrooms being functional. Yosemite NP's statement was that they had to close because there's not staff to man the bathrooms and they are closed, and therefore no one has access to wash their hands.
Please explain how you can open a campground in a national park yet not open bathrooms. Unless you are talking about RV style campgrounds, which aren't really campgrounds.
Do you realize how much waste there would be with no bath rooms available?
My business relies on the park being open it's a seasonal operation
Ours too. Please re-open. We have had no income because parks aren't open. End the shutdown now
Hi Mike. Any chance your work involves helping the local nonprofit Buffalo Field Campaign to educate the public about the plight of America"s last wild bison herds? We are all hurting. God be with us ❤
History repeats itself! The pandemic of 1918 was a coronavirus, we learn from our past mistakes not repeat them, social distancing and personal protection, hand saniting are all critical,
Don't you think you should start looking at the numbers that include ALL SURVIVORS, when making your decisions? You know the A Symptomatic survivors...NY figured out this week 2.7 milion A sym survivors....which means their DR is .06%....not the lies of WHO that DR is 3.4%. LA Co & USC calculated LA, another CV hot spot is at DR .02%. Open the parks...if someone is high risk or scared...they can stay home for CV isn't going anywhere! Wake up America!
Why can't they just open the park roads, WITHOUT SERVICES, restaurants, AND STUPID GIFT SHOPS so people can enjoy Yellowstone for it's beauty, much like they did in the late 1800's??
Return it to it's original form NOW.
Let the theme park people go to Disney Land.
Do you understand the remoteness of most of the parks. Visitors have to stay somewhere, they have to eat and drink, they have to use the restroom. All of these essential needs must be met by employees. If not in the parks themselves then in the gateway communities. It's not as simple as "open the park roads". Those employees must live somewhere. In parks like Yellowstone and Teton that means dorms, the perfect breeding ground for pandemic. That said, I am in favor of opening as much as possible.
Yes, I first of all i want to go on record to say Thank You Mr .Presidemt! Thank you for doing a fine Job during the coronavirus! I think none of us are to happy with china. However, i believe the soft approach is smart. Look at China's restarants. They put partitions up. The are makin all restatant workers wear a mask! However, people are returning back to some normalcy. Lets face it we cannot work its harder 2 maintain good physical and mental health. Look at the poor waitress Basically you have someone tjat made approximately $2.00 an hour survives on tips. And now she is asked to stay at home. Her Job is in Jeoperday. Most restaraunt owners are stressed over money. So yes lets start to open.our economy back up. Lets not commit economic suicide over fear. 2nd timothy 1 chapter 7 verse! And psalms 91.10! Read those if you are still scared and memorize these passages!
What better time to open. The summer heat is coming and people are going stir crazy. They will find a place outside to go, one way or another. Be smart. Be safe And reopen our country. We will survive!
Gulf Shores National Park
Concerning Ft. Pickens campground in Florida June 1st would be much safer for an opening date. This would avoid the crowds of family members that gather for the holiday thatI I have seen in the past. Of course even a June 1st opening would require distancing.
I live right outside a NP boundary, and yes I do miss it but..
I see several foolish comments here. The ONLY reason our health care system was not over run was due to mitigation, closing public spaces, and practicing social distance. Open the country back up to soon and BAM all that work was for nothing.. This is a highly infectious virus that we are learning more about daily. Studies out of Asia and Europe and showing very nasty after effects in so called "recovered" patients. There are studies saying this virus has mutated several times already and retransmission maybe possible.
I understand that most Americans dont have the attention span for any long approach, but this is a marathon not a sprint. Anyone pusing hard for everything to just reopen, like the protesters across the nation, should be required to forfeit any medical attention from contacting covid19. That sounds fair.!
Until PPE is available "not just handmade mask" to the American workforce, distance is the only realistic option..
Safety and health of population should be main concern. It takes monetary resources to clean facilities like restrooms. Parks are way underfunded as it is, so affording staff to sanitize after every use isn't feasible. However, everyone should be afforded the opportunity to see these magnificent places. If reopening occurs it should be with guidelines. Say, visitor center facilities only.No camping,trail use adhering to social distancing and masks. See parks as they were. Natural.
Seasonal (non essential) Park Ranger here. My start day was moved back over a month like thousand of others. We are out of work just like everyone else. This is a situation the world has never experienced before, in terms of opening and closing outoparks this is all brand new, uncharted territory.
Each park will most likely operate differently. Grand Tetons will have a different "soft opening" than Everglades for example. Smaller, less busy parks will be THE HOT SPOT for visitation because they normally have less people.
So please, tell your friends, instead of flocking to Yosemite or Grand Canyon, try checking out Valley Forge or Great Basin or Congaree National Parks.
When you have a park getting 3,000 cars a day with limited staff and maintenance and even less parking options...crowding WILL occur. Continue practice physical distancing and protect our parks while doing so. No matter how the parks open it's our job to protect them.
Shared housing for seasonal Park workers has always been a health hazard. Maybe another benefit of this Wuahn virus crisis will be for the Park and the conessions to have decent housing for workers without having them to share bathrooms?
The are many full time RV/VAN dwellers with off grid capabilities looking for jobs and many YouTube sites (etc....) to connect with them. If I were a park decision maker: I would close down toilet facilities and have port-a-toilets(easier to disinfect), visitors must have their own toilet paper(to lessen cross contamination), outdoor foot pump hand washing stations. Camp site priority to self-contained RV/Vans. Good luck. I hope to visit some Western Nat'l parks this summer, if possible.
Sounds fair - as long as all those that have preventable preexisting conditions forfeit medical attention as well. Fact is the world evidence shows there is no material correlation between the extent of quarantine and the ultimate extent of infections and death.
I have a seasonal business and have watched all my income evaporate. I have very limited resources to meet the large mortgage payment I must make. Even if the Yellowstone park is opened the loss in reservations that have already occurred means it may not be cost effective to open up. Just turning on TV's for all the rooms is 500.00 plus a month. I am 65 years old and have had stomach cancer as well. So you can imagine that I am very torn about letting people from all over stay here with myself and my employees throwing the dice of being exposed. Is it worth it to die so I don't go broke. Whatever you do don't go the mailbox the bills are waitng for you with a we are in this together line on the envelope.
I work in Yosemite and they will not protect the general public or the employees that work here. If you see how they covered up the recent Norovirus and pass Hantavirus; you can see, they could care less. We have people visiting from all over the world. The surrounding communities could be devastate by this virus.
Montana governor has already said he will keep their 14 day arrival quarantine all the way through phase 2. So for the summer that would mean only montana residents to Yellowstone from the north.
I understand maybe no international visitors this year but none from rest of USA either?
Wyoming still has theirs in place also but no statement on how long.
I would like to see some sort of rational explanation by the national Park service as to why they have closed RV camping sites. This makes no sense as it in no way endangers anyone To use the RV sites. I think the park rangers could work a little bit. They could wear masks if they needed to talk to a camper. We know that COVID-19 does not survive in sunlight. Why in the world would we not want people out in the national parks where possible?
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