“Despite calls from lawmakers, union officials and advocates, the National Park Service has not mandated that all of its locations close during the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Jeff Ruch, Pacific director for the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, called NPS’ response to the pandemic “a fiasco,” based on his over 25 years of experience. “[Interior] Secretary [David] Bernhardt’s March decision to waive all national park entrance fees to encourage the public to ‘enjoy the outdoors’ illustrated a fundamentally misguided approach to encourage crowds in the teeth of a pandemic.””
