NPS closures and alerts

[Selkie]

Track them here:
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/alert ... re&p=1&v=1

[Ear Mountain]

Thanks Selkie,
I was just looking for a site that consolidated NPS alerts onto one page.
Ralph

[PeteE]

Nice link Selkie. Thanks for posting.

Apgar Visitor Center closing---No big deal as far as I'm concerned.
pete

https://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/202 ... or-center/

[Selkie]

Parks Canada closing vehicular access to national parks and historic sites:
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/voyage-travel/s ... id-19-info

Washington State has closed access to state parks and facilities, including water access:
https://parks.state.wa.us/1177/Novel-Co ... --COVID-19

[joybird]

And now it looks like the whole park may be closing...

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2020/03/25/b ... -concerns/

"In Whitefish, whose tourism-based economy is largely dependent on visitation to Glacier National Park, Mayor John Muhlfeld minced no words in articulating his support for a temporary closure.

'As a gateway community to Glacier National Park, I guarantee you the majority of visitors choose to spend at least a portion of their vacation in Whitefish, and right now we are overwhelmed,” Muhlfeld said. “Our emergency services are strapped, our bars and restaurants are closed, and we don’t need additional visitors taxing our infrastructure right now. We would prefer that the park be closed temporarily to visitors because it directly impacts us.'"

Take care and stay safe, everyone!

[PeteE]

What a crock of ****
There have been no crowds in GNP in my experience in the last couple weeks.
And the few people I saw last Saturday and Sunday, two of the nicest days we've had recently, most were locals.
Sunday AM I sat for an hour at the Apgar boat dock reading my kindle waiting to see if the clouds were gonna lift.
I saw three teens and an old couple.
Nobody was gathering in groups. No bus tours. No strain on anyone. The places that are open for take out food like the business.

America has become a nation of frightened people confined to their homes like bleating sheep in their pens.
Pitiful.

pete

[Ear Mountain]

I suspected Glacier National Park remained open while so many other park units have already closed is because visitation in winter is usually low and most of the park is relatively inaccessible to tourists. But as spring advances more and more people will be visiting, often coming from great distances. It is time to be proactive and not reactive. Montana's number of CORVID-19 cases is increasing daily. You can track the numbers here:
https://montana.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Ma ... 2103421d4b

[teapot57]

"Effective at 5 pm on March 27, 2020, Glacier National Park will be closed to all park visitors until further notice. There will be no visitor access permitted to the park. US Highway 2 inside the park boundary will remain open. We will notify the public when we resume full operations and provide updates on our website and social media channels."

See https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/news/media20-04.htm for more.

[Ear Mountain]

Thanks Teapot57,
Given closures of so many other NPS units I think Glacier would only be a matter of when and not if.

[PeteE]

The Rangers were in that parking area between the bridge and the entrance sign putting up the signage by when I drove out around 3:45Pm today

In other news...

WOW! Do B&C have really good situational awareness!
Clyde was on the roof of my truck when all of a sudden...
All the feathers on his head stood up and he let out a series of very LOUD harsh calls cocking his head to look up in the sky/trees.
Next, B&C both take off like bats outa hell after an "intruder" raven.
Ravens are extremely territorial, and B&C are no exception.

pete

[Jay w]

I read a few articles about people traveling during the pandemic. So people from Seattle were going to their cabins, flooding into small towns, picking up groceries, which helped deplete the food supplies and piss off the locals. In Switzerland and the US, downhill ski have been shown to have a lot social interaction (and spread the virus) and then they go home, or jet set home. In MN and WI, various counties are requesting (formal declarations) that people not go to their cabins. They say they don't have the capacity in their hospitals if people get sick and the locals are old. Local news showed that a number of counties in MN don't have a hospital, and many have really limited beds or ICU. I agree that hardly anyone is in Glacier now, but as things shut down, people are flocking to other areas. The North Shore of MN (for pictures and hiking) is an ideal day trip from the cities. They're heading to the bike trails (they're packed), to cabins, to parks, organizing neighborhood gatherings (exercise, music etc.) The local news is giving it a thumbs up slant since they're 6 feet apart, but I groan. When an area like New York gets infected, people flee so they don't get infected, like to Florida, and haul it along with them. People were crossing rivers in China when the bridges where shut. Ideally, we could freeze people in place for two weeks and not have any interaction. If that happened, there would be no, or almost no virus. People won't do that, so we hope to keep it to a dull roar. The dull roar means this will last a while. I don't have high hopes that people will "socially distance." Social distance doesn't apply to family, right? Or my best friend, right? It's only a couple people....

Jay

[Ear Mountain]

The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest has closed all Forest Campgrounds, Rental Cabins, and Day Use Sites. The closures will not impact other Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest trails, trailheads or dispersed camping sites which remain open as of now. Here's the details:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/hlcnf/ne ... EPRD717053

The same goes for Flathead National Forest on the west side:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/flathead ... EPRD717026