** After ignoring warnings, Interior closes Grand Canyon
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Thursday, April 2, 2020
Line of cars waiting at the South Entrance for Grand Canyon National Park ([link removed])

The Interior Department decided Wednesday to close Grand Canyon National Park ([link removed]) indefinitely following several days of urgent appeals from federal, county, local and tribal governments, as well as park service employees and public health officials. The park was partially open earlier this week before several employees tested positive for coronavirus.

The delay in deciding to close the park despite escalating risk of infection from the coronavirus was widely criticized ([link removed]) and seen as an example of a larger failure of leadership during a crisis ([link removed]) through ineffective guidance and communication from Interior Department leadership.

Park service employees across the agency are pushing back against the Trump administration's decision to keep parks open. One park ranger at the Grand Canyon who spoke on the condition of anonymity said ([link removed]) , "We feel our boss is not meeting up with our pleas... It’s political, to keep up the image." The employee further described the risk, saying ([link removed]) , "I feel people’s idea of the Grand Canyon is that you can isolate, but there’s two entrances. They are all going to the same view stations and same trails. It funnels people to the same spots.”

Grand Canyon joins a growing list of national parks that have decided to close to the public this week, including Joshua Tree National Park ([link removed]) in California.
Quick hits


** Oil executives scheduled to meet with President Trump this week to discuss oil price crash
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** BLM approves 11,000 miles of fuel breaks to help prevent wildfire
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Bloomberg Law ([link removed]) | Idaho County Free Press ([link removed]) | KTVZ ([link removed])


** Following intense criticism, pleas, Interior Department closes Grand Canyon National Park indefinitely
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Daily Beast ([link removed]) | KOB4 ([link removed]) | Sedona Red Rock News ([link removed]) | Outside ([link removed])


** Lawmakers ask Interior Department to waive or reduce federal royalty payments for oil, gas, and coal
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Opinion: Former Interior Deputy Secretary calls the Trump administration's anti-environment agenda "inexcusable"
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Joshua Tree National Park joins growing list of parks closing amid fears of coronavirus spread
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers extension of free entrance to national wildlife refuges despite pandemic
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E&E News ([link removed])


** The best national parks to visit virtually
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The Manual ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Standing alone, the administration’s anti-environment, anti-conservation and anti-science agenda is an outrage. Continuing to aggressively prosecute the agenda when our country is consumed by a major health emergency is inexcusable.”
—David J. Hayes ([link removed]) , executive director of the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law
Picture this


** NPS/Patrick Myers ([link removed])
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Sandhill cranes in snow, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

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