Little traffic was heading into the South Entrance of Grand Canyon National Park on Wednesday afternoon/NPS webcam
Editor's note: This updates with closings from Grand Canyon National Park, campground situation at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NPCA reaction to suspension of fees.
More and more parks Wednesday shut down visitor facilities ranging from restaurants to campgrounds and ending ranger-led programs in an effort to confront the spread of coronavirus, while Interior Secretary David Bernhardt encouraged visitors to "find refuge" in the park system and waived entrance fees to make it more appealing.
"This small step makes it a little easier for the American public to enjoy the outdoors in our incredible National Parks,” said Bernhardt. "Our vast public lands that are overseen by the department offer special outdoor experiences to recreate, embrace nature, and implement some social distancing."
But Bernhardt's motivation was questioned by National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno.
“The Park Service should be waiving fees, but not to make parks more accessible. Waiving fees prevents park staff and visitors from having close interactions during this ongoing pandemic," she said. "We remain concerned about the health and safety of park staff and visitors and strongly urge everyone to follow the guidance of public health experts before planning a trip to any park in order to protect themselves and their communities.”
A Park Service directive sent out Tuesday night to regional directors and superintendents said parks with open space areas will remain open "(S)o that we may best serve the American public and maintain parks as a resource and refuge during this difficult time. ... This includes trails, picnic areas, and campgrounds that provide opportunities to enjoy our country while maintaining public health recommendations."
That move to portray national parks as safe areas seemed contradictory to efforts to halt the disease's march across the country. On Tuesday, Utah health officials moved to discourage visitors from traveling to Moab-area national parks by closing lodgings, restaurants, and campgrounds in that gateway town to out-of-area visitors.
"In any other year we want to welcome people with open arms, but we are cognizant that this isn't any other year, so as much as it pains us we want to discourage tourists," Bradon C. Bradford, who heads the Southeast Utah Health Department, told the Traveler on Tuesday.
Park Service officials in Washington did not respond Wednesday when asked if the latest guidance might exacerbate the spread of coronavirus. And Zion National Park officials, where the 190-site Watchman Campground and the 117-site South Campground are highly popular, also did not respond to an inquiry about whether they would keep those campgrounds open.
Zion officials also could not be reached to say whether the trail to Angels Landing, a highly popular hike in the park, would be closed. The park has, however, suspended its shuttle bus operations, which should limit the number of visitors in Zion Canyon.
Elsewhere in the park system, Grand Canyon National Park on Wednesday closed its restaurants, although some might be able to offer takeout service, and Death Valley National Park said some of its campgrounds -- Furnace Creek, Mesquite Spring, Texas Springs, and Emigrant -- were closing at noon because there was not enough PPE -- Personal Protective Equipment -- to protect custodians from the virus. Across the country at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, staff said campgrounds at Smokemont, Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Cosby would no longer accept fees on-site.
"All campers must reserve and pay for sites online at recreation.gov to minimize the exposure risk for park employees and visitors," the park said in a statement. "In addition, the park is suspending reservations for gatherings at the following park facilities through April 30: Appalachian Clubhouse, Spence Cabin, Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church, Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church, Cades Cove Methodist Church, and Smokemont Baptist Church. All requests for reservation cancellations for campgrounds, picnic pavilions, churches, and Special Park Use permits will be honored with a full refund without cancellation penalties."
A directive sent out Tuesday by the Park Service's acting deputy director for operations announcing the suspension of fees also included guidelines to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.
"In practice, this means no facility (building) or program in the NPS should provide visitor services that involve groups of more than 10 people. This includes activities under special use permits. If local and state guidance is more restrictive, that guidance should prevail," the directive stated.
Additionally, superintendents were told to ensure that their parks were in compliance with guidelines on "hand hygiene, social distancing and protecting vulnerable populations."
"Park managers are authorized to suspend programs and services that cannot meet this guidance. Some NPS visitor functions may need to be suspended when those functions are being delivered in partner facilities that are being closed," the directive said.
To ensure social distancing is being practiced, the guidelines provided the following options:
- Stagger activities to limit numbers of people at facilities or events.
- Add frequency of a program/event to spread out attendance, e.g. hold more, smaller gatherings.
- Limit the number of people in lines.
- Limit the number of people permitted in facilities or programs to allow for spacing to meet guidelines.
- Shorten timeframe of activities where people gather to limit exposure time while maintaining distancing.
- Adapt hours of operations either to allow for staggering attendance or participation or to allow for staff shortages and monitoring of adherence to public health guidance.
- Use phones, videos, or video conferencing to reduce the need for close interactions.
- Place information resources (maps, brochures, public information) outside of visitor centers to limit entry into the facility.
- Consider messages to discourage visitors from entering facilities if they have flu-like symptoms.
- Place appropriate signage.
- Move activities outside.
But as that guidance was being distributed across the park system, more and more closures were being announced:
* Moraine Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park was to close Thursday morning;
* At Cumberland Gap National Historical Park that touches Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee, the visitor center and the Wilderness Road Campground closed;
* At Mount Rainier National Park the Longmire Museum and Paradise Jackson Visitor Center were closed;
* The Taft House and the Taft Education Center at the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Ohio closed;
* At Gateway National Recreation Area in the greater New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, all facilities, including visitor centers and ranger stations, closed;
* The buildings within the Martin Luther King Historical Park in Georgie were closed;
* Congaree National Park staff in South Carolina planned to close the Longleaf and Bluff campgrounds on Friday;
* At Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota the Rainy Lake Visitor Center and park headquarters closed;
* Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis announced it was closing the arch itself as well as the Old Courthouse to visitors;
* Park Service officials in North Dakota said park visitor centers at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, and Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site would be closed until further notice. "Where it is possible to adhere to the latest health guidance, roads, trails, campgrounds, and picnic areas will remain open to provide healthy options for the public to enjoy," the Park Service release said.
* At Indiana Dunes National Park, all facilities, including restrooms, were closed, and public and school programs at the park were cancelled.
* Across the country on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Cape Lookout National Seashore announced that visitor centers (Harkers Island Visitor Center, Beaufort Visitor Information Center, Light Station Visitor Center, Keeper’s Quarters Museum, and Portsmouth Village Visitor Center) would close Thursday until further notice. "Visitor activities, including ranger-led programs, guided tours, the public lighthouse climbing season (originally set to begin on May 13) are also suspended until further notice," the staff said.
* The Canyon Rim Visitor Center at New River Gorge National River in West Virginia closed;
* Yellowstone National Park closed the Albright Visitor Center at Mammoth Hot Springs;
* The Mound City Group visitor center at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio closed;
* Virgin Islands National Park closed its Cruz Bay Visitor Center, and food service and ranger programs at Trunk Bay were ended.
For more closures, check the National Park Service's news release site.
Comments
Makes sense from a health standpoint, but will probably result in a smaller pot of fee dollars to fund everything from resource restoration to 'enhancements', and especially the smaller no-fee NPS units that depand heavily on their 20%.
But I guess if Congress is ready to print trillions of bucks to save the economy, they can print a measly couple billion more for the parks?
It's going to be a mixed bag, according to the park, so best to check before going. Also a mixed blessing, as suspending fees could generate more visitation, so parks should be planning ahead. Hopefully most are into the incident command system at this point.
Dont do this. Last people trashed the parks so bad some of the damage done can never be fixed.
At least in this urban park, the suspension of fee collection is much more about reducing the risk to VUAs in the entrance station from handling cash and credit cards. Visitation is way down, so the lost revenue is miniscule. And I doubt free entrance won't affect visitation: cabin fever and outdoor areas with very low human densities might partially restore visitation numbers. The VUAs will still be in the entrance station to greet visitors and answer questions. Park staff will still be out in the park; teleworking will replace their officework and keep them out of the admin building. The visitor center, museum, auditorium, and other enclosed spaces are all closed, as are all ranger and volunteer led activities. But visitors are allowed to hike and view the waysides, and restrooms & trash are serviced as usual: by facilities staff with gloves and other protective equipment.
This is a terrible idea. There HAS to be another way to keep collecting fees while not manning booths and putting rangers at risk. Agree with previous commenter - sadly, people cannot be trusted to run free. Parks such as Yosemite were absolutely TRASHED during the government shutdown. You would think that those visiting national parks would respect nature/wildlife/sensitive areas and be mindful of themselves/their belongings/trash, but this sadly not the case. This is a terrible, awful idea. Just close them down, no entry. Let's find a way to keep paying park rangers/other staff during closure.
Time to put in wireless credit card readers, automatic receipt printers and mechanical gates at the entrance to keep the much needed fees and protect the works at the same time.
So... you want more people to crowd into already crowded National Parks, without the staffing or facilities to handle them safely or observe any sort of hygiene or social distancing norms... but, why?
Good idea, but bad timing. Shut the national parks down but keep the local and state parks open (with social distancing regulations) so we don't all go stir crazy.