What Park and Public Land Closures Mean for Getting Outside
From more adventurous days on Tioga Pass. Photo credit: Julie Brown
In response to the spread of COVID-19, public lands are closing all over the country. Unlike the swift and uniform closure of public lands during the 2019 government shutdown, this round of closures is happening on an individual basis and with conflicting guidance from different authorities.
On March 19, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to stay at home while Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt waived entrance fees to all National Parks on the same day.
Yosemite National Park closed on March 20th—one of the first National Parks to do so despite the Secretary’s decision to waive entrance fees. Nevertheless, the closure only pushed visitors to proximate destinations, like Pinecrest Lake. Regional Forester Randy Moore said the freshwater lake was “packed” with visitors from the Bay Area, a three-hour drive away.
By March 25, the Forest Service announced that it would close all developed recreation sites, including campsites and picnic grounds, in California’s National Forests, including forests adjacent to densely-populated urban areas. Moore described long lines of traffic, with cars parked along curbs and pedestrians walking in the road. The Angeles National Forest in Southern California was more crowded than the Fourth of July, “making social distancing impossible.”
These closures are temporary, if open-ended. Still, we only need to look back to the government shutdown last year to understand what happens when public lands lock their bathrooms, shutter campgrounds, and clear out all supervising personnel. Last year during the shutdown, toilets were overflowing, piles of litter accumulated in the environment, vandalism was unchecked, and agency staff was overwhelmed with the enormity of the task to reopen these places.
We can do better this time around. Here are some things we learned from the past that we can apply now to support our public lands:
Respect closures. The reasons why land management agencies are deciding to close access has everything to do with the collective health and safety of our community—including you. Americans love public lands, and it’s understandable why so many people would want to gather in these places right now. But social distancing has become impossible on popular public lands and it puts the health of people and landscapes at risk.
Follow local guidelines to stay at home or shelter in place and research closures. Local and regional authorities are making individual decisions about what to close and when. You can stay informed about these decisions by visiting the website for the area you’re hoping to visit. Twitter and local news outlets are also good resources for information about recent closures.
Go outside cautiously. The World Health Organization recommends a half-hour of outdoor activity for adults and an hour for children. To help you go outside safely, we developed these guidelines with our partners.
Public lands need funding and support. Public lands have been overwhelmed by this surge in visitors, which is just one more example of why we need to pass legislation that will give agencies resources to keep bathrooms open and clean and to staff trailheads with officers that can facilitate social distancing. You can help by asking your congresscritters to support funding public lands, through the Great American Outdoors Act and more.