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As cities across the country go on lockdown and Americans are told to stay home and practice social distancing, many national parks remain open with park entrance fees waived. Park rangers are growing worried about their own health and the ability of gateway communities to handle the floods of visitors to the parks.
One park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona reported 600 close contacts with visitors on a popular trail in the park. The trail has since been shut down, but the park remains open despite a request from the park supervisor to close the park. Gateway communities near national parks are echoing the call to close the gates for fear of crowding in local hospitals.
A national park ranger who quit his job over the work conditions told The Washington Post, "This is a political game being played with people’s lives by leadership at the highest levels of the Department of Interior, and, I believe, the White House." And although many visitor centers have shut down, park rangers remain on duty to protect sites. About 100 of the 419 National Park Service units have been closed or partially shut to the public.
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Parks inherently funnel people to see overlooks and waterfalls and rivers. People stop at various points to view the wonderful scenery. They’re more conducive to people gathering. Parks are built for visitation. Our concern is that Interior is practicing trial and error instead of being proactive where they know visitors are going to gather."
