No Social Distancing or Mask Requirement at Trump's Mt. Rushmore Fireworks Event
01 July
Health + Wellness
A crowd awaits the evening lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota on June 23, 2012. Mindy / Flickr
Fire experts have already criticized President Trump's planned fireworks event for this Friday at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial as a dangerous idea. Now, it turns out the event may be socially irresponsible too as distancing guidelines and mask wearing will not be enforced at the event, according to CNN.
<p>The fireworks event at the iconic monument in South Dakota will be the first in more than a decade, and it will bring together thousands of supporters who will be crammed together in a fenced-in area for a view of the display. The event is happening as coronavirus cases are surging across the country, amidst a <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> in South Dakota that makes the surrounding trees flammable, and during a national conversation about rethinking monuments with racist histories.</p><p>South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem said the people who attend the celebration will be asked to choose their own comfort level with social distancing and mask wearing. While masks will be handed out to anyone who wants them, they will not be required, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/s-dakota-gov-noem-says-we-will-not-be-social-n1232507" target="_blank">NBC News</a>.</p>
<p>"We will have a large event at July 3rd. We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we will not be social distancing," Noem said on Fox News on Monday night, as NBC News reported. "We're asking them to come, be ready to celebrate, to enjoy the freedoms and the liberties that we have in this country."</p><p>She added that state officials have asked the people of South Dakota to practice personal responsibility. "Every one of them has the opportunity to make a decision that they're comfortable with," she said, as NBC News reported.</p>
<p>The unwillingness to mandate that people follow <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/visitors.html" target="_blank">CDC guidelines</a> and practice social distancing has drawn criticism from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples" target="_self">Native American</a> community, which has suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus. Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump's visit on Friday.</p><p>"Trump coming here is a safety concern not just for my people inside and outside the reservation, but for people in the Great Plains. We have such limited resources in Black Hills, and we're already seeing infections rising," said Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner in an interview with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/01/mount-rushmore-donald-trump-sioux" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"It's going to cause an uproar if he comes here. People are going to want to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest and we do not want to see anyone get hurt or the lands be destroyed," added Bear Runner.</p>
<p>Mt. Rushmore, which is carved into the Black Hills Forest, is still considered sacred land by the Sioux. Its construction and the visit from the U.S. president stand in clear violation of treaties that the Sioux people signed with the U.S. government, according to Bear Runner.</p><p>The land was granted to the Sioux in perpetuity, but the U.S. reneged on the deal when gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the late 1800s.</p><p>"The lands on which that mountain is carved and the lands he's about to visit belong to the Great Sioux nation under a treaty signed in 1851 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and I have to tell him he doesn't have permission from its original sovereign owners to enter the territory at this time," Bear Runner told The Guardian.</p>
<p>Trump, who has repeatedly refused to wear a face mask and encouraged states to reopen early before the virus was under control, tends to provoke the same behavior in his fans. The refusal to mandate social distancing guidelines stands in stark contrast to South Dakota's Department of Health <a href="https://doh.sd.gov/news/coronavirus.aspx#Avoid" target="_blank">website</a>, which says that in order to avoid the illness, people should "avoid close contact with people ... stay at home as much as possible," and "put distance between yourself and other people." It also says, "everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public," as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/s-dakota-gov-noem-says-we-will-not-be-social-n1232507" target="_blank">NBC News</a> reported.</p>
<p>Asked to reconcile the difference between the governor of South Dakota and the guidelines from the CDC and the states' health department, Noem spokesman Ian Fury told CNN, "We're not anticipating that folks will be maintaining six feet of social distancing. We are encouraging attendees to follow CDC guidelines, extensive safety signage will be posted at the event, and masks will be available, but attendees will be exercising their personal responsibility in choosing to attend."</p>
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Bison and motorists try to navigate the same road in Yellowstone National Park on July 12, 2014. Roan Retera
A woman was gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park last week, in a reminder that there are serious consequences for forgetting that the wildlife in Yellowstone is wild.
<p>The incident took place after the woman, a 72-year-old from California, moved within 10 feet of the bison more than once in order to take a photograph, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-parks" target="_self">National Park</a> Service (NPS) <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/062920.htm" target="_blank">said in a statement Monday</a>.</p><p>"The series of events that led to the goring suggest the bison was threatened by being repeatedly approached to within 10 feet," Yellowstone's senior bison biologist Chris Geremia said in the statement. "Bison are wild animals that respond to threats by displaying aggressive behaviors like pawing the ground, snorting, bobbing their head, bellowing, and raising their tail. If that doesn't make the threat (in this instance it was a person) move away, a threatened bison may charge."</p>
<p>The goring took place the evening of June 25 at the woman's campsite at the Bridge Bay Campground. She was wounded multiple times and received medical attention from rangers before being flown by helicopter to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-72-gored-bison-yellowstone-after-getting-too-close-photos-n1232496" target="_blank">NBC News</a> was not able to obtain any more information about her condition as of Monday night.</p><p>NPS is investigating the incident.</p>
<p>This is not the first time a park visitor has been injured after standing too close to a bison since the park reopened following its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/national-parks-coronavirus-closings-2645599791.html" target="_self">closure</a> due to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. Another woman was hurt in late May, only days after the park's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/national-parks-opening-coronavirus-2645998472.html" target="_self">reopening</a>, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/bison-gores-woman-yellowstone-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>That woman was "knocked to the ground" after coming too close to an animal in the Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin, officials said, as <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/29/california-woman-gored-bison-yellowstone-national-park/3283467001/" target="_blank">USA TODAY reported</a>. That woman received medical attention from park staff but did not choose to go to the hospital, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/yellowstone-bison-attack-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>. Hers was the first injury of the 2020 season, USA TODAY reported.</p><p>NPS recommends that Yellowstone visitors stay more than 25 yards away from large animals like bison, elk and moose and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves.</p><p>"To be safe around bison, stay at least 25 yards away, move away if they approach, and run away or find cover if they charge," Geremia said.</p>
<p>One positive example of bison safety went viral in March, when reporter Deion Broxton saw a herd of bison approaching while on the job in Yellowstone and packed up his gear and drove away, <a href="https://abc11.com/bison-reporter-montata-deion-broxton/6052358/" target="_blank">ABC 11 reported</a>.</p><p>"I ain't messing with you," he said in a video he tweeted of the incident.</p>
<div id="6e24a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="98502f801663ce63637c38b8b636d002"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1242965245414391808" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here's the video of the bison I shot once I got a safe distance away lol https://t.co/uL3XiR2ISR</div> — Deion Broxton (@Deion Broxton)<a href="https://twitter.com/DeionBroxton/statuses/1242965245414391808">1585180982.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>NPS hailed Broxton as a positive role model for bison safety.</p><p>"A perfect example of what to do when approached by wildlife!" the <a href="https://twitter.com/YellowstoneNPS/status/1242912596488933376" target="_blank">park tweeted</a>.</p><p>The park said there are usually one to two bison-related injuries every year, ABC 11 reported.</p>
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Trump's Fireworks Show at Mt. Rushmore Is a Dangerous Idea, Fire and Public Health Experts Say
25 June
Politics
A park ranger addresses the crowd at Mt. Rushmore in Pennington, South Dakota on Aug. 17, 2017. Steve Elliott / CC BY-SA 2.0
For the last decade, fireworks have been banned at Mt. Rushmore due to environmental concerns and public health concerns. President Trump, however, is not somebody who seems to care about either, so he's planning on going ahead with his fireworks show on July 3 at the iconic site.
<p>As <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/06/24/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported, the National Park Service stopped allowing fireworks shows at Mt. Rushmore in 2010, worried that the drought conditions could lead to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">wildfires</a>. The monument, featuring the faces of four presidents, is surrounded by 1,200 acres of forested lands, including ponderosa pines, and lies next to the Black Hills National Forest's Black Elk Wilderness.</p><p>The ponderosa forest that surrounds the sculpture is a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/climax-ecology" target="_blank">climax community</a>, which is like the apex predator of plants, according to <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32957973/mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">Popular Mechanics</a>. It's an age-old biosphere that can only be taken down by a catastrophe.</p>
<p>Due to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> shifts in precipitation, the conditions are ripe for a catastrophe. The Black Hills moisture level in April and May was 30 to 50 percent below its long-term average, the <a href="https://rapidcityjournal.com/fire/fire-expert-says-mount-rushmore-fireworks-ill-advised/article_9b42ba7a-fdcd-5cc0-b03e-95ed2f3bd932.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1" target="_blank">Rapid City Journal</a> reported. June has been hotter and drier than normal and the long-range forecasts suggest those conditions will continue until July, as <a href="https://apnews.com/f091160cd9d56a6db67a3181c4a2efc5" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p><p>Earlier this month, the U.S. Drought Monitor recently labeled nearly all of southwestern South Dakota, including most of the Black Hills, as "abnormally dry," according to <a href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/06/23/mount-rushmore-fireworks-display-ill-advised-fire-expert-says/3244196001/" target="_blank">South Dakota News Watch</a>.</p>
<p>"It's a bad idea based on the wildland fire risk, the impact to the water quality of the memorial, the fact that [it] is going to occur during a pandemic without social distancing guidelines and the emergency evacuation issues," said Cheryl Schreier, who served as the superintendent at Mount Rushmore National Park between September 2010 and May 2019, to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/06/24/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>Bill Gabbert, the former fire management officer for Mount Rushmore and six other national parks in the region, told <a href="https://apnews.com/f091160cd9d56a6db67a3181c4a2efc5" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> that shooting fireworks over the extremely flammable ponderosa pine forest should not be done.</p><p>"Burning debris, the burning embers and unexploded shells fall into a ponderosa pine forest and ponderosa pine is extremely flammable," said Gabbert.</p><p>He also told <a href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/06/23/mount-rushmore-fireworks-display-ill-advised-fire-expert-says/3244196001/" target="_blank">South Dakota News Watch</a> that "shooting fireworks over a ponderosa pine forest, or any flammable vegetation, is ill advised and should not be done. Period."</p>
<p>Dry conditions like the ones facing South Dakota have historically been a driving force behind increased fire activity in the region, according to Darren Clabo, South Dakota state wildfire meteorologist, who spoke to <a href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/06/23/mount-rushmore-fireworks-display-ill-advised-fire-expert-says/3244196001/" target="_blank">South Dakota News Watch</a>.</p><p>"The critical thing is, this is the time of the year when we get most of our rain. And so when we're starting to see precipitation deficits during the time period when we get all the rain, it does become quite concerning looking forward to our fire season," Clabo said.</p>
<p>Trump has wanted to have a fireworks show at Mt. Rushmore since 2018, but advisers had successfully steered him away from that idea, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/06/24/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>And yet, when he was asked about the risk of wildfire earlier this year, Trump failed to see the large picture of the surrounding forest.</p><p>"What can burn? It's stone," he said in January, as <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32957973/mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">Popular Mechanics</a> reported.</p><p>The state authority distributed 7,500 tickets to the event through an online lottery. While coronavirus cases are surging throughout the country, there is no social distancing requirement for the July 3 event at Mt. Rushmore. Instead, the Interior Department will post signs throughout the park urging visitors to wear a cloth face covering when it is impossible to keep six feet away from others, and it will provide face coverings for all of its employees, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/06/24/trump-mount-rushmore-fireworks/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxNjc5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDE0NzAyNH0.97ZDXc2_YFWqxHrhDV3-dEraT6SPPYLHpztsL0AQpxw/img.jpg?width=980" id="2ccc4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3c6c2d0ec03b3a8d18e212df87ed364" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A view of Mt. Rushmore at night on July 4, 2018. Rick Schwartz / Flickr
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Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada of Northern California on April 13, 2017. Jorge Láscar / Flickr
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a major conservation bill worth billions on Wednesday. The Great American Outdoors Act provides a stimulus to nationwide conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands, according to AP News. The bill's supporters say the legislation would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century.
<p>The bill passed the U.S. Senate in a bipartisan 73-25 vote. It would permanently provide $900 million in oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which helps secure land for trails and parks.</p><p>Proponents, including the bill's sponsor, Republican Cory Gardner of Colorado, tout the Great American Outdoors Act as a way to get people back to work after millions have been laid off in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2414708/great-american-outdoors-act" target="_blank">Outside Magazine</a> reported.</p>
<p>"Years of bipartisan work have led to this moment and this historic opportunity for conservation," said Gardner, according to <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2414708/great-american-outdoors-act" target="_blank">Outside Magazine</a>. "Today the Senate passed not only the single greatest conservation achievement in generations but also a lifeline to mountain towns and recreation communities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic."</p><p>As <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/17/national-parks-bill-addresses-long-deferred-maintenance-projects/3205195001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who helped craft the measure, called it "one of the most important things we've done in the conservation world in the last 50 years. So we're very proud of that."</p><p>In total, federal lands may receive up to $1.9 billion per year over the next five years, which would make an enormous difference in maintaining parks and national forests. Right now, federal public lands are suffering from $20 billion in deferred maintenance costs, with $12 billion of that accumulated by the National Park Service, according to <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2414708/great-american-outdoors-act" target="_blank">Outside Magazine</a>.</p>
<p>"Park roads and bridges are collapsing, water systems are failing, and visitor centers are crumbling," said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO for National Parks Conservation Association, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/17/national-parks-bill-addresses-long-deferred-maintenance-projects/3205195001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported. "This momentous bill not only provides an opportunity to better care for these treasured places, it will help to increase access to public lands across the country, provide jobs and bring much-needed relief to local communities suffering through hard times."</p><p>"[This] will be a monumental victory for conservation and the places where we all get outside," said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM). He cited studies showing that each dollar spent by the fund creates an additional four dollars in economic value.</p>
<p>Outside of parks, communities around national parks suffer from high unemployment rates since many of their economies are deeply affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/5796d62b4d9600744d1a277ea3745b44" target="_blank">AP News</a>.</p><p>Montana Republican Stephen Daines also pushed for the bill. Both he and Gardner are extremely vulnerable incumbents in November's election. It seems Republicans may have pushed forward and supported the bill to help the Colorado and Montana senators in the next election, especially since they each represent a state where the outdoor economy and tourism at sites such as Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone national parks play an outsize role, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/5796d62b4d9600744d1a277ea3745b44" target="_blank">AP News</a>.</p><p><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-polls/488454-poll-shows-daines-bullock-neck-and-neck-in-montana-senate-race" target="_blank">Daines is tied</a> with his Democratic opponent, and Gardner trails his opponent, in the <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/06/colorado-poll-hickenlooper-gardner-senate-polis/" target="_blank">most recent polls</a>, as <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2414708/great-american-outdoors-act" target="_blank">Outside Magazine</a> reported.</p><p>Maintaining federal lands, where deferred projects are in every state, is popular with the American public. A <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2019/08/09/americans-want-congress-to-act-to-fix-national-parks" target="_blank">Pew survey last year</a> found that eight of 10 registered voters support using oil and gas revenues to cover the maintenance backlog, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/17/national-parks-bill-addresses-long-deferred-maintenance-projects/3205195001/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported.</p>
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A passing rainstorm at the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Pierre Leclerc Photography / Moment / Getty Images
The plastic crisis has polluted the world's oceans and created mountains in landfills. Microplastics have been identified wafting on the sea breeze and raining down on top of the Pyrenees. They travel on the winds and slowly drop down from the skies. Now, a new study has found that some of the most untouched areas of the U.S. are seeing 1,000 tons or more of microplastics rain down every year, according to The New York Times.
<p>The study examined airborne microplastics in national parks in the American West. That means those hikes through the untouched land in Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon or Joshua Tree National Park are not providing the pristine, fresh air we thought they do.</p><p>The researchers found that nearly one-fourth come from nearby cities, while the rest drift through the air from far-flung locations. The findings, the first to discern the plastics' geographic origins, add to mounting evidence that microplastic pollution is a worldwide scourge, as <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/plastic-dust-blowing-us-national-parks-more-1000-tons-each-year" target="_blank">Science</a> reported.</p>
<p>"We created something that won't go away," says Janice Brahney, a biogeochemist at Utah State University and lead author on the new paper, according to <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/plastic-dust-blowing-us-national-parks-more-1000-tons-each-year" target="_blank">Science</a>. "It's now circulating around the globe."</p><p>The new study was published on Thursday in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1257" target="_blank">Science</a> magazine and titled "Plastic rain in protected areas of the United States." The researchers noted that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics" target="_self">microplastics</a> are found in "nearly every ecosystem on the planet."</p>
<p>To conduct the study, the researchers collected rainwater and air samples for 14 months to calculate how many microplastic particles fall into 11 protected areas in the west each year. They found tiny plastic particles in 98 percent of the 339 samples they collected. Microplastics made up 4 percent of the dust particles that were tested, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/climate/airborne-plastic-pollution.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The 1,000 metric tons, or over 2.2 million pounds, that drops over 11 protected areas every year is equal to of over 120 million plastic water bottles, according to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/" target="_blank">Wired</a>.</p><p>"We just did that for the area of protected areas in the West, which is only 6 percent of the total US area," said Brahney, as <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/" target="_blank">Wired</a> reported. "The number was just so large, it's shocking."</p><p>The plastic is trapped in fundamental atmospheric processes and falling all over the world, making plastic rain the new acid rain, according to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/" target="_blank">Wired</a>.</p>
<p>Microplastics are tiny particles that measure less than 5 millimeters in length. Most microplastics are fragments from larger pieces of plastic. Since plastics aren't biodegradable, when they end up in landfills or garbage heaps, they break down into microparticles and make their way through the earth's atmosphere, soil and water systems, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/11/microplastics-us-national-parks-survey" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Considering that they have such a long life after their usefulness has expired, many microplastics could be traveling through natural systems for a long time.</p>
<p>"Plastics could be deposited, readmitted to the atmosphere, transported for some time, deposited and maybe picked up again," said Brahney, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/11/microplastics-us-national-parks-survey" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "And who knows how many times and who knows how far they've travelled?"</p><p>Scientists have yet to conclude how all the plastic in the atmosphere affects animal and plant species, but the authors of this new <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1257" target="_blank">study</a> argue that the global community needs to work together to find a solution.</p><p>"The consequences to ecosystems are not yet well understood but are inescapable in the immediate future," the researchers wrote in their <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1257" target="_blank">study</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/microplastic-pollution-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "If the potential dangers posed by environmental microplastics are to be mitigated, both the scale of the solution and the level of cooperation that will be required call on the engagement of the global community."</p>
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National Trails Day 2020 is now titled In Solidarity, AHS Suspends Promotion of National Trails Day 2020. The American Hiking Society is seeking to amplify Black voices in the outdoor community and advocate for equal access to the outdoors. Klaus Vedfelt / DigitalVision / Getty Images
This Saturday, June 6, marks National Trails Day, an annual celebration of the remarkable recreational, scenic and hiking trails that crisscross parks nationwide. The event, which started in 1993, honors the National Trail System and calls for volunteers to help with trail maintenance in parks across the country.
<p>The American Hiking Society (AHS) promotes the event. Last year, the AHS launched a campaign to set a world record to have the most people helping improve trails in one day. This year is a very different story, due to recent developments like social distancing from COVID-19 and the nationwide protests of systemic racism.</p><p>While National Trails Day will continue on a local level, AHS has canceled all of its promotions and activities lest it detract from the Black Lives Matter movement.</p>
<p>The official page for National Trails Day is now titled <a href="https://americanhiking.org/national-trails-day/suspended/" target="_blank">In Solidarity, AHS Suspends Promotion of National Trails Day 2020</a>. It goes on to advocate for equal access to the outdoors:</p><blockquote>"In its quest to be an ever-stronger ally, so as not to take space from the very important discussions and protests around racism in America and, in particular, around police brutality of Black bodies, American Hiking Society will suspend its promotion of National Trails Day this year. Instead, we will be taking allyship actions, including: amplifying Black voices in the outdoor community; sharing <a href="https://americanhiking.org/hiking-resources/racism-in-the-outdoors/" target="_blank">resources on racism in the outdoors</a> that will link back to publications and content authored by people of color; and urging our supporters to <a href="https://americanhiking.org/advocacy/cta-national-trails-day-2020/" target="_blank">call on Congress to pass legislation that provides equitable access to quality natural spaces for ALL </a>. We thank our partners who have supported this decision to re-focus our efforts where we feel they are needed most at this time."</blockquote>
<p>While calls to improve trails have mostly been suspended so people can keep a safe distance from each other, hiking trails across the country have seen an uptick in visitors as other activities have been closed to them.</p><p>"During the COVID-19 quarantines, more and more people have been discovering the mental and physical benefits of getting outside in their neighborhoods, to the point of a 200 percent increase in trail usage in cities across the country," according to an AHS <a href="https://www.eptrail.com/2020/06/02/national-trails-day-takes-place-on-saturday/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<p><br>On Martha's Vineyard, in Massachusetts, the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation and the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission canceled its annual cross-island hike, even though attendance on trails has been up, according to the <a href="https://www.mvtimes.com/2020/06/03/not-usual-national-trails-day/" target="_blank">Martha's Vineyard Times</a>.</p><p>"We've noticed a surge in use of all of our trails and sanctuaries, and also of the TrailsMV app," said Adam Moore, executive director of Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, to the <a href="https://www.mvtimes.com/2020/06/03/not-usual-national-trails-day/" target="_blank">Martha's Vineyard Times</a>. "Even though there may not be an organized group hike, I think there may be more people out hiking than ever. It's been an extraordinary time for trails, for people's enjoyment of them, and for our need to keep them up and maintain them."</p>
<p>On the other side of the country, in Spokane, Washington, the <a href="https://www.evergreeneast.org/" target="_blank">Evergreen East</a> organization is asking for volunteers to help complete a mountain bike trail in a conservation area. According to T<a href="https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jun/02/volunteers-needed-for-national-trails-day-project-/" target="_blank">he Spokesman-Review</a>, trail project leaders will be on hand for instruction and to ensure that current social distancing guidelines and safety precautions are followed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.</p><p>In Lyme, Connecticut, students from a local high school practiced safe social distancing all spring to groom three trails that are ready to open the public on National Trails Day, according to <a href="https://lymeline.com/2020/06/celebrate-national-trails-day-saturday-take-a-hike-on-old-lymes-newest-town-open-space-the-mcculloch-family-property/" target="_blank">Lyme Line</a>.</p><p>In Portland, Maine, the South Portland Land Trust is releasing a new map of five trails just in time for National Trails Day.</p><p>"Now more than ever, trails and open space are critical to the mental and physical well-being of the city," the land trust said in a release, as the <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2020/06/04/south-portland-land-trust-celebrates-national-trails-day/" target="_blank">Portland Press Herald</a> reported. "While some beaches and other parks are closed, land trust trails all over the state, including South Portland, are providing a relief valve."</p>
<p>Even though a lot of volunteering opportunities are canceled, there are ways to enjoy National Trails Day and lower your carbon footprint. Suzan Bellincampi, sanctuary director for Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Martha's Vineyard, shared recommendations with the <a href="https://www.mvtimes.com/2020/06/03/not-usual-national-trails-day/" target="_blank">Martha's Vineyard Times</a>.</p><p>"I'd recommend people think about exploring a new place they haven't seen, or maybe something right in their backyard. In times of climate change, the lower your carbon footprint, the better," said Bellincampi. "That would also protect, from a global perspective, all these places that we hold so dear."</p>
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Photo credit: Black Birders Week seeks to highlight the experiences of Black scientists and nature lovers. Chad Springer / Image Source / Getty Images
A video of an incident in Central Park last Monday, in which a white woman named Amy Cooper called the cops on African American birder Christian Cooper after he asked her to put her dog on a leash, went viral last week, raising awareness of the racism Black people face for simply trying to enjoy nature.
<p>In response, a group of more than 30 Black <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists%5C" target="_self">scientists</a> and nature lovers decided to launch the first-ever Black Birders Week, a social media event intended to raise awareness of African American participation in outdoor activities and the challenges they face, <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/black-birders-week-promotes-diversity-and-takes-racism-outdoors" target="_blank">Audubon Magazine reported</a>.</p><p>"For far too long, Black people in the United States have been shown that outdoor exploration activities are not for us," Corina Newsome, who studies seaside sparrows at Georgia Southern University, said in a video announcing the week. "Whether it be the way the media chooses to present who is the 'outdoorsy' type, or the racism Black people experience when we do explore the outdoors, as we saw recently in Central Park. Well, we've decided to change that narrative."</p>
<div id="fdea8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="60ce2ecaa620ee485c1d66454527d4e3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1266387163727486977" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
We at @BlackAFinSTEM are starting the inagural #BlackBirdersWeek to celebrate Black Birder… https://t.co/GiHPppvyOh</div> — Corina Newsome (@Corina Newsome)<a href="https://twitter.com/hood_naturalist/statuses/1266387163727486977">1590765202.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The week kicked off Sunday, May 31 under the banner of <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/BlackAFinSTEM" target="_blank">BlackAFinSTEM</a>. Newsome told Audubon Magazine that the week and the newly organized group of scientists had three goals: to change the national image of who belongs outdoors, to educate the birding community about the racism faced by its Black members and to encourage diversity in outdoor studies and hobbies.</p><p>"Diversity is important for the robustness of any community trying to do anything," Newsome said.</p><p>While the week was initially organized in response to what happened to Christian Cooper, it has coincided with a week of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/protestors-publich-health-coronavirus-covid-19-testing-2646141562.html" target="_self">nationwide protests</a> following the racist murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breyonna Taylor, George Floyd and many others, something the organizers acknowledged.</p><p>"Many of us work in the outdoors, in urban areas and wilderness. It could've easily been anyone of us. We want our peers to not only recognize our existence but our experiences being Black. The history books set a precedent for civil unrest in the face of injustice," the group tweeted Sunday. "We want it to be clear that we stand with the protesters fighting against police brutality even as we organize a protest specific to being #BlackinNature."</p>
<div id="b64e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b41ecfbbf9b61a48a771c0478dc3fa2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1267130833523048449" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Many of us work in the outdoors, in urban areas and wilderness. It could’ve easily been anyone of us. We want our p… https://t.co/1eLyGaJHyU</div> — BlackAFinSTEM (@BlackAFinSTEM)<a href="https://twitter.com/BlackAFinSTEM/statuses/1267130833523048449">1590942507.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>At the same time, the week offers a chance to celebrate the contributions that Black scientists and conservationists are already making to their fields, offering a respite from images of pain and violence, as co-founder and University of Georgia natural resources graduate student Sheridan Alford told <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-race-and-racism-blackbirdersweek-takes-on-systemic-racism-by-celebrating-diversity" target="_blank">High Country News</a>.</p><p>"[W]e think that it's very important to highlight the work that people are actually doing and kind of drive that conversation to, yes, look at us, and please acknowledge the hardship we go through — but as you acknowledge those hardships, also look at what we've been doing in our research, or what we've been doing in our communities to better the climate as a whole. So I think this week kind of fell exactly where it needed to, as far as time frame," she said.</p><p>There are virtual events <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/hood_naturalist/status/1266387168785846272" target="_blank">scheduled</a> for every day of the week except Wednesday. It began Sunday with a call to Black researchers and birders to share pictures of themselves in the field using the hashtag #BlackInNature.</p>
<div id="dd2d8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19eb71fc3617d636212c8aa9b9a00582"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1267443317756870656" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#BlackInNature I grew up never seeing anyone who looked like me in my classes, in my textbooks or working in my fie… https://t.co/CC1EMn1iuu</div> — Inka Cresswell (@Inka Cresswell)<a href="https://twitter.com/InkaCresswell/statuses/1267443317756870656">1591017009.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>On Monday, participants were invited to share pictures or facts related to birds under the hashtag #PostABird. Tuesday saw a Twitter live chat called #AskABlackBirder. On Thursday, there will be a livestream discussion of #BirdingWhileBlack from 7 to 8:30 p.m. EST. And Friday wraps up with a day devoted to #BlackWomenWhoBird.</p><p>Non-Black birders are encouraged to participate by retweeting posts and learning from the livestream, according to Audubon.</p><p>"We are not excluding anyone," Alford told High Country News. "The whole purpose is to highlight and showcase Black birders, and anybody can do that."</p>
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Wolf pups with their mother at their den site. Design Pics / Getty Images
In another reversal of Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration is having the National Park Service rescind a 2015 order that protected bears and wolves within protected lands.
<p>The new rule, remarkable in its cruelty, will allow hunters to shoot bears, wolves, along with their cubs and pups while the animals are in their dens in the popular Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. It also puts ends a ban on some nefarious practices like luring bears with doughnuts, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/28/alaska-bears-wolves-trump-rules-hunters" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/28/alaska-bears-wolves-trump-rules-hunters" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> that the rule change is "amazingly cruel" and said it was "just the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America's wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters."</p>
<p>The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued separate statements that their actions are designed to align federal and state law, according to the <a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2020/05/21/trump-administration-moves-to-ease-rules-for-hunting-bears-and-wolves-on-federal-lands-in-alaska/" target="_blank">Anchorage Daily News</a>. The National Park Service manages 10 preserves in the state, including Denali National Park and Preserve. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge lies west of the park.</p><p>NPS Alaska spokesperson Pete Christian told <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/21/national-park-service-rule-change-puts-state-back-in-charge-of-wildlife-management-in-preserves/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> that although practices like killing bears and wolves in dens go against the Park Service's mission, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created or expanded many of Alaska's national preserves, grants the state management authority.</p>
<p>"It supercedes, to some extent, the NPS Organic Act and some of our regular management policies, and so the parks up here were designed to have preserve units in them which allow for hunting and trapping as per state law," Christian said.</p><p>The Park Service decision to defer to the state is the latest move in a legal conflict around who has ultimate authority over the protected lands. The conflict dates back to 2015, when the Obama administration initially banned certain state-permitted predator harvests on Alaska's preserve lands, as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/21/national-park-service-rule-change-puts-state-back-in-charge-of-wildlife-management-in-preserves/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported.</p>
<p>While the number of hunters that will actually plow ahead into the national preserve to hunt bears and wolves in their dens is probably quite small, the spirit of the practice is extreme and inconsistent with the values of the national preserve, according to Pat Lavin with the Defenders of Wildlife in Anchorage who spoke to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/21/national-park-service-rule-change-puts-state-back-in-charge-of-wildlife-management-in-preserves/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>.</p><p>"The Trump administration has shockingly reached a new low in its treatment of wildlife," Defenders of Wildlife President Jamie Rappaport Clark said, as the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/alaska-increase-hunting-trapping-1.5581668" target="_blank">CBC</a> reported. "Allowing the killing of bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens is barbaric and inhumane."</p><p>The new rule also allows hunters to shoot caribou from traveling motorboats and to kill swimming caribou, according to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/alaska-increase-hunting-trapping-1.5581668" target="_blank">CBC</a>.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/28/alaska-bears-wolves-trump-rules-hunters" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> noted, the move is part and parcel with a pattern from Trump's Department of the Interior, which has consistently sought to expand access to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands">public lands</a> to hunters and fossil fuel companies. Last month, it proposed expanding public hunting and fishing access by more than 2.3 million acres on 97 national wildlife refuges and nine national fish hatcheries.</p>
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Looking south from New York City's Central Park. Ajay Suresh / Wikipedia / CC BY 4.0
By Richard leBrasseur
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered humans' relationship with natural landscapes in ways that may be long-lasting. One of its most direct effects on people's daily lives is reduced access to public parks.
<p>
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html" target="_blank">guidelines</a> urging Americans to stay at home whenever feasible, and to avoid discretionary travel and gatherings of more than 10 people. Emergency declarations and stay-at-home orders <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_and_local_government_response_to_the_COVID-19_pandemic" target="_blank">vary from state to state</a>, but many jurisdictions have closed <a href="https://thedyrt.com/magazine/local/campground-closures-list-covid-19/" target="_blank">state</a> and <a href="https://parks.arlingtonva.us/2020/04/parks-recreation-working-to-keep-people-healthy-and-safe/" target="_blank">county parks</a>, as well as smaller parks, playgrounds, beaches and other outdoor destinations.
</p>
<p>There's good reason for these actions, especially in places where people have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/26/us/southern-california-beaches-coronavirus-heat/index.html" target="_blank">spurned social distancing rules</a>. But particularly in urban environments, parks are important to human health and well-being.</p><p>As a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Le_Brasseur" target="_blank">landscape architect</a>, I believe that <a href="https://www.olmsted.org/the-olmsted-legacy/frederick-law-olmsted-sr" target="_blank">Frederick Law Olmsted</a>, the founder of our field, took the right approach. Olmsted served as general secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, and his knowledge of contagious diseases informed his visions for his great North American urban parks, including <a href="https://www.centralpark.com/" target="_blank">Central Park</a> in New York, <a href="https://www.lemontroyal.qc.ca/en" target="_blank">Mount Royal Park</a> in Montreal and Boston's <a href="https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/park-overview/" target="_blank">Emerald Necklace</a> park system. In my view, closing parks and public green spaces should be a temporary, last-resort measure for disease control, and reopening closed parks should be a priority as cities emerge from shutdowns.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a867752aaff56a08500b385a86246215"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lm4UD1eOTSI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
Making Healthy Places
<p>Olmsted was born in 1822 but became a landscape architect rather late in his career, at <a href="https://www.olmsted.org/the-olmsted-legacy/olmsted-theory-and-design-principles/olmsted-his-essential-theory" target="_blank">age 43</a>. His ideas evolved from a diverse and unique set of experiences.</p><p>From the start, Olmsted recognized the positive effect of nature, noting how urban trees provided a "<a href="https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Olmsted_Trees.pdf" target="_blank">soothing and refreshing sanitary influence</a>." His "sanitary style" of design offered more than mere decoration and ornamentation. "Service must precede art" was his cry.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxMzY0Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5Njk0MTU4NH0.0B1-PqUutTRmDQFUSVoUs92nvTWwyoXnAWF7IOCG0ko/img.png?width=980" id="cd54e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="56aeeebf247c3a9dd09d5fc14e90805c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Olmsted's 1874 plan for the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, DC. Architect of the Capitol
<p>Olmsted came of age in the mid-19th century, as the public health movement was rapidly developing in response to typhoid, cholera and typhus epidemics in European cities. As managing editor of Putnam's Monthly in New York City, he regularly walked the crowded tenement streets of Lower Manhattan.</p><p>At the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, Olmsted led efforts to improve sanitation in Union Army military camps and protect soldiers' health. He initiated policies for selecting proper camp locations, installing drainage and disposing of waste, ventilating tents and preparing food, all designed to reduce disease. And in 1866 he witnessed adoption of New York's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Health_Bill" target="_blank">Metropolitan Health Bill</a>, the first city law to control unhealthy housing conditions.</p>Antidotes to Urban Stress
<p>The insights Olmsted gained into connections between space, disease control and public health clearly influenced his landscape architectural career and the design of many urban park systems. For example, his design for the interlinked parks that forms Boston's <a href="https://ramboll.com/-/media/files/rgr/lcl/bgi_final-report_mit_boston_20160403.pdf?la=en" target="_blank">Emerald Necklace</a> foreshadowed the concept of green infrastructure.</p><p>This system centered on stagnant and deteriorated marshes that had became disconnected from the tidal flow of the Charles River as Boston grew. City residents were dumping trash and sewage in the marshes, creating <a href="https://landscapes.northeastern.edu/water-sanitation-and-public-health-in-boston/" target="_blank">fetid dumps that spread waterborne diseases</a>. Olmsted's design reconnected these water systems to improve flow and flush out stagnant zones, while integrating a series of smaller parks along its trailways.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxMzY1Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzA0MTM4Nn0.NDri69ZuP5S1-FFERwACr1MFhgb4eqhxc4DkXq8OLR0/img.png?width=980" id="4f7fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="15936574ba99f0927e4a509d7a6b3694" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Boston's Emerald Necklace park system today. Emerald Necklace Conservancy / CC BY-ND
<p>Olmsted also designed <a href="https://www.6sqft.com/in-1894-the-first-bike-lane-in-america-was-built-on-brooklyns-ocean-parkway/" target="_blank">America's first bike lane</a>, which originated in Brooklyn, New York's Prospect Park. Of the tree-lined boulevards in his design for Central Park, Olmsted said, "Air is disinfected by sunlight and foliage. Foliage also acts mechanically to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/04419057.2013.836557" target="_blank">purify the air by screening it.</a>"</p><p>In all of his urban parks, Olmsted sought to immerse visitors in restorative and therapeutic natural landscapes — an experience he viewed as the most profound and effective antidote to the stress and ailments of urban life.</p>Parks in the Time of COVID-19
<p>Today researchers are documenting many health benefits associated with being outside. Spending time in parks and green spaces clearly benefits urban dwellers' <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.09.009" target="_blank">psychological, emotional and overall well-being</a>. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10030913" target="_blank">reduces stress</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916591231001" target="_blank">improves cognitive functioning</a> and is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40471-015-0043-7" target="_blank">improved overall health</a>.</p><p>In my view, government agencies should work to make these vital services as widely available as possible, especially during stressful periods like pandemic shutdowns. Certain types of public green spaces, such as botanical gardens, arboretums and wide trails, are well suited to maintaining social distancing rules. Other types where visitors may be likely to cluster, such as beaches and playgrounds, require stricter regulation.</p><p>There are many ways to make parks accessible with appropriate levels of control. One option is stationing agents at entry points to monitor and enforce capacity controls. Park managers can use timed entries and parking area restrictions to limit social crowding, as well as temperature screening and face mask provisions.</p><div id="c0c52" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="defaeca6d251c3f521f316ea78e9a454"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1258546078162419712" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The weather's going to be awesome this weekend. Heading to your local #WaStatePark? Be like mascots Bagley and Ruth… https://t.co/BwCzquGx75</div> — WaStatePks (@WaStatePks)<a href="https://twitter.com/WAStatePks/statuses/1258546078162419712">1588895742.0</a></blockquote></div><p>For example, in <a href="https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/sps_covid.html" target="_blank">New Jersey</a>, many public parks have reopened for walking, hiking, bicycling and fishing while keeping playgrounds, picnic and camping areas and restrooms closed. They also have limited parking capacity to 50 percent of capacity.</p><p>In Shanghai, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3075224/coronavirus-parks-and-tourist-attractions-reopen-china-tries-get" target="_blank">China</a>, the government recently reopened most parks and several major attractions, including the <a href="http://en.csnbgsh.cn/sites/chenshan/chenshan_en/index.ashx" target="_blank">Chenshan Botanical Garden</a> and the <a href="http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/2401/Shanghai_Zoo_shanghai" target="_blank">city zoo</a>. Entry requires successful screening and online reservations, and visits are limited to a maximum of two hours.</p><p>Technologies such as GPS tracking and biometrics can set a precedent for future green space interaction. Residents could sign up for reserved time slots and log into apps that monitor their entry and distancing behavior. Some Americans might be put off by such technocentric means, but officials should be clear that making visitation easy and safe for all is the priority.</p><p>There will be challenges, especially when people <a href="https://www.wxyz.com/news/coronavirus/dnr-state-park-closures-likely-if-people-dont-follow-social-distancing-rules" target="_blank">flout social distancing rules</a>. But urban parks and nature offer plenty of benefits that are especially important during a pandemic. I believe that finding ways to enjoy them now in a manner safe for all will be well worth the effort.</p>
<p>
<em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/parks-matter-more-than-ever-during-a-time-of-sickness-something-frederick-law-olmsted-understood-in-the-19th-century-137882" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em>
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Visitors to Yellowstone National Park at the view point overlooking Mammoth Hot Springs. hugh rhine / CC BY 2.0
If you're looking to get outside and enjoy the remarkable vistas that the U.S. national parks offer, you may be in luck. Some national parks are planning a phased reopening.
<p>Two of the nation's most popular national parks, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, are starting to allow visitors. Yellowstone will reopen on a limited basis, starting on Monday, May 18. Yellowstone has been closed to visitors since March 24, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yellowstone-grand-canyon-national-parks-reopening/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>That has not stopped people from visiting anyway. On Tuesday, a woman suffered burns after sneaking into the park and falling into a thermal pool while backing up to take photographs of the Old Faithful geyser, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-illegally-enters-yellowstone-falls-thermal-feature-while-taking-pictures-n1205976" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p>
<p>Wyoming asked to have the park reopen, so the first phase of reopening will only allow admission to entrance gates in Wyoming and access to the park's southern loop. Entrances in Montana will remain closed, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yellowstone-grand-canyon-national-parks-reopening/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"I would prefer it's not just a light switch and the park is open and we get inundated and overwhelmed and aren't able to handle it," said Cam Sholly, the park's superintendent, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/america/national-parks/2020/05/14/coronavirus-yellowstone-national-park-half-reopen/5189186002/" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p><p>Sholly added that a massive amount of signage will encourage social distancing and the public's behavior will help determine when the park can open fully.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/yellowstone-grand-canyon-national-parks-reopening/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, Grand Canyon National Park will reopen the South Rim South Entrance from May 15-18. The entrance will allow incoming traffic to enter for daytime access from 6 to 10 a.m. Certain viewpoints, picnic areas and restrooms will be open for use. However, the South Rim's East Entrance, Desert View, Grand Canyon Village and a number of trails will remain closed.</p><p>"This initial reopening phase will increase access to our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public lands</a> in a responsible way by offering the main feature of the park for the public, the view of the canyon, while reducing the potential exposure of COVID-19 to our nearly 2,500 residents," Grand Canyon National Park superintendent Ed Keable said in a press release, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/05/13/grand-canyon-national-park-reopens-may-15-heres-what-you-need-know/5187205002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a> reported.</p>
<p>In Utah, national parks will reopen in phases. Zion, Utah's most popular national park, will reopen Wednesday, but shuttle buses to some of the park's most popular attractions will remain closed. Campgrounds and wilderness hikes that require permits will also remain closed, according to <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/05/11/zion-reopen-wednesday/" target="_blank">The Salt Lake Tribune</a>.</p><p>Arches and Canyonlands will reopen on May 29 with almost all trails, roads and restrooms available to the public. However, the visitor center will remain closed, as will Arches Fiery Furnace, a popular hike.</p><p>"That trail is so narrow in places that it is impossible for us to keep people safe in there," said Angie Richman, the parks' chief of interpretation, noting that it would be impossible for visitors to socially distance, as <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2020/05/11/zion-reopen-wednesday/" target="_blank">The Salt Lake Tribune</a> reported. "We don't know when we will be able to reopen it."</p><p>In Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park will start to reopen on May 27. Businesses in Estes Park, the town that borders the park, are using the two-week notice to disinfect and put protocols in place for operating while maintaining social distance. The downtown shopping district even requires mask wearing outside, as <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/05/12/estes-park-rocky-mountain-national-park/" target="_blank">CBS News Denver</a> reported.</p>
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The entrance for Liberty State Park on April 12, 2020 in Jersey City, NJ, is blocked after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an order to close all State Parks. Ira L. Black / Corbis / Getty Images
By Stephen Lezak
Across the United States, local authorities have sealed off public parks and open spaces, blaming visitors who failed to maintain social distance.
<p>What started with closed urban playgrounds spread like a contagion in its own right. In California the city of Santa Cruz <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/10/when-surfing-gets-banned-surfers-get-salty/" target="_blank">banned</a> surfing. In Colorado San Juan County issued an <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/atoms/files/SheriffLetter03-21_20_Signed.publisher.pdf" target="_blank">order</a> threatening to tow vehicles belonging to backcountry skiers. "Socially distant" gradually became synonymous with "indoors."</p><p>It was only a few weeks ago that <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/How-to-stay-active-outdoors-during-15138081.php" target="_blank">going for a hike</a> was seen as a reasonable way to shelter in place. Then the sun came.</p><p>Beachgoers and picnickers turned out <em>en masse</em>, making headlines from San Francisco to London. Mayors and governors scolded the public on live television as they announced new restrictions.</p>
<p>A common refrain on social media lamenting the park closures has been, "Why can't we have nice things?" But blaming ourselves for crowded parks misses the underlying issue: In many parts of the country, there simply isn't enough public space to go around.</p><p>This problem is most pronounced in urban areas. An <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2019/08/21/parks-make-great-places-but-not-enough-americans-can-reach-them/" target="_blank">analysis</a> of the country's 100 largest cities found that only half of residents live within a half-mile of a park. Access is especially <a href="http://culturesofenergy.com/racial-and-socioeconomic-disparities-in-access-to-urban-greenspace/" target="_blank">limited</a> for communities of color and low-income groups, where neighborhoods lack public spaces to exercise, relax, gather, or simply breathe clean air.</p><p>This lack of city parks puts further pressure on nearby rural areas. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (near San Francisco) and the Blue Ridge Parkway (near Washington, D.C.) had <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/annual-visitation-highlights.htm" target="_blank">15 million visitors</a> apiece last year — more than triple the number at Yellowstone or Yosemite.</p><p>In the past decade, the National Park Service has seen a 15% <a href="https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/Reports/National" target="_blank">increase</a> in visits. But in that same decade, funding grew by less than .5% in real terms, leaving the agency unable to build new trailheads, expand parking lots or address a $12 billion repair <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/restore-americas-parks/legislation" target="_blank">backlog</a>.</p>
<p>When recreation sites become overwhelmed, access becomes self-limiting. In much of the country, finding a parking spot at a trailhead is a summer adventure in its own right. We've overcrowded and underfunded ourselves into this situation.</p><p>This problem has a straightforward solution. Safeguarding access to public spaces requires protecting more land and improving infrastructure in existing parks. Doing so has the double-effect of creating more space for nature while distributing the impact of visitors. These should be easy wins to support an outdoor recreation economy <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/outdoor-recreation" target="_blank">valued</a> at $500 billion by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.</p><p>There are any number of ways Congress could address this issue. A simple first step: Mandate that taxes on oil and gas drilling allocated to the <a href="https://therevelator.org/lose-best-conservation-program/" target="_blank">Land and Water Conservation Fund</a> are not diverted to other projects or left unappropriated. According to Congress' in-house researchers, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33531.pdf" target="_blank">less than half</a> of the $41 billion raised by the fund was spent to support public lands and recreation.</p>
<p>This lack of support is hardly accidental. "The Founding Fathers intended all lands owned by the federal government to be sold," <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/01/federal-government-should-sell-western-land-follow-constitution/" target="_blank">wrote</a> William Perry Pendley in 2016. He is now the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, overseeing a huge swath of federal public land.</p><p>Some officials are pushing a narrative in which landscapes are made whole through private development instead of public stewardship. Now, in the midst of a national emergency, we find ourselves unable to keep public spaces open at the time when we need them most — proof that this vision is gaining literal ground. With too little space to go around, staying home is the only way to stay safe.</p><p>The pandemic didn't create this crisis. But in the confines of our homes, we should ask whether we've taken our parks for granted. Our stewardship of public spaces must be continually reaffirmed, so that we can all go out in search of social distance — and perhaps even solitude.</p>
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/stephenlezak/" target="_blank"><em>Stephen Lezak </em></a><em>is a geographer based at the University of Cambridge. </em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/covid-public-spaces/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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