“Then the pandemic rolled in. They couldn’t return to the Basin to collect samples for the other analyses.”
WTF?
Either BS or they are wussies.
New Mexico parks and government land (which is basically the whole state) were shut down most of the time. Later they were open but insane.
I was hiking with a group of Israelis in the Lincoln forest, no people near and ordered (by a park ranger who looked like he was going to draw his weapon) to put a mask on.
He drove his off road buggy thing over a mile to order us to put masks on and then kept following us at a distance for an hour.
Here in the great state of Washington the governor halted all group work on projects until all the workers were vaccinated. Including the volunteer highway litter clean-up. Outside! For TWO YEARS! Most litter programs were re-instated in March, 2022.
The park was closed................
Yep. Why would the pandemic keep them from going to a desert?