“Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but the same cannot be said for lodging and food services in the park that will be shuttered for the next two months by concerns over coronavirus.
The Grand Canyon Lodging announcement comes one day after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said that entry fees at all open national parks would be waived until further notice.
But some advocates said that while waiving fees is a good step, it should not be done just to make parks more accessible if that will lead to greater interaction between people.
Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, charged that the Trump administration “seems to want to convey a sense of normalcy, even when it is not justified” with the decision to keep parks open.
“We don’t think the decisions are being made by park professionals. We think they are being made by senior political officials,” Ruch said.”
