Climbing closures have been instituted at Devils Tower National Monument due to nesting birds/NPS

Look around the National Park System and you'll find a tree removal project at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, a climbing closure at Devils Tower National Monument, and a celebratory reopening of Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park

Beginning on May 14, contractors will be removing more than 100 storm-damaged trees on the Wilderness Battlefield. The work will also include the cleanup of downed trees along roads throughout the park, the result of various storms in the past two years.

All work will be done in a manner that will protect sensitive cultural and natural resources and ensure the flow of traffic. Damaged trees will be felled where space permits, or dismantled where required. Work may entail the brief redirection of traffic along park roads.

The work will continue for approximately six weeks, ending about June 25.

Devils Tower National Monument

At Devils Tower, an updated climbing closure has been put in place in effect after peregrine falcons were observed in nesting behavior on the northeast face of the Tower. Falcon activity observed by a climber has led to an updated closure of 45 climbing routes between and including, Psychic Turbulence and Belle Fourche Buttress. Climbing routes that were previously closed on April 12 between Uncle Remus Dirty Vegetable Garden and Gooseberry Jam are now open. The standard Meadows Finish is also open. An updated list of closed routes can be found at the park's website. More than 100 routes remain open to climbing.

The closed area may be moved, extended, or rescinded depending on nesting and fledgling activity. “The closure is strictly enforced. All climbers are required to register at the Climbing Registration Office or kiosk before beginning their ascent,” said Alex Heyer, chief of law enforcement.

Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial 

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat, leads a list of dignitaries scheduled to celebrate the reopening of Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, May 19, at 10 a.m. The memorial was closed in 2017 for $2.4 million in deferred maintenance work that included repointing the exterior masonry, removing efflorescence, replacing broken interior wall tile, and rehabilitating five exterior bronze doors.

“This is a proud moment for us,” said Superintendent Barbara Fearon. “It’s an important moment in the history of this park, and we are thrilled to share it with the American public.”

Congresswoman Kaptur is to be joined by Senator Randy Gardner, an Ohio Republican, Representative Steve Arndt, R-Ohio, Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, represented by his Ohio District Director Kelsey Krull, Ohio Governor John Kasich represented by his Northwest Ohio Regional Representative LuAnne Cooke, and Ottawa County Commissioners Mark Coppeler, Jim Sass, and Mark Stahl.