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Despite warnings from public health officials and park rangers, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt spent Memorial Day weekend posing for photo ops at national park units that are being reopened to the public. Internal documents obtained by HuffPost show park managers didn't receive guidance on managing crowds until days before re-opening, and that parks are relying heavily on signage, but not enforcement of public health measures like wearing masks.
One park ranger told HuffPost that “I feel like I’m going to get [COVID-19] eventually. I just don’t feel there is any way for me to avoid it.” The ranger isn't confident that park managers will have the authority to close a park down in the event of an outbreak. “It seems to me like the openings and closings of parks is based on politics and not the safety of employees and visitors,” the ranger said.
Bernhardt re-opened Grand Canyon National Park over the objections of the Navajo Nation, which has seen more than 3,600 COVID-19 cases and 127 deaths. On Sunday, the Interior Department posted photos of a mask-less Bernhardt speaking with the mayor of Tusayan, Arizona, a town that was effectively run by Elling Halvorson, a business owner who died last month. Halvorson's businesses, which are now run by his daughter, have partnered with an Italian developer that wants to transform Tusayan into a Grand Canyon mega-resort.
After Bernhardt joined the Interior Department, the Tusayan Town Council hired Bernhardt's former lobbying firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, and has paid the firm nearly $500,000 to lobby the Interior Department and Forest Service over the proposed resort.
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My assumption is he’s getting considerable pressure to open the United States of America from his boss. The economy is getting hit hard. But for us, our focus is on the health and well-being of the Navajo Nation.”
