Posted on 08/16/2021 10:08:38 PM PDT by lightman
you’re planning a visit to a national park, you’ll need to pack a mask — even if you’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The National Park Service said Monday all tourists and employees will be required to wear masks where they are crowds — both indoors and outdoors.
The mask mandate comes as the delta variant drives COVID-19 cases across the U.S. and wearing masks is required regardless of vaccination status or the level of community transmission. It’ll be in effect until further notice.
“Visitors to national parks are coming from locations across the country, if not across the world,” National Park Service Deputy Director Shawn Benge said in a news release. “Because of this, and recognizing that the majority of the United States is currently in substantial or high transmission categories, we are implementing a service-wide mask requirement to ensure our staff and visitors’ safety.”
Masks were originally required in all national park buildings and on federal land after President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January that required everyone in those situations to wear a mask.
What does Biden’s federal mask mandate mean for national parks? Here’s what to know
To the Biden administration, “federal lands” meant any piece of land that is under the control of the executive branch.
That included the about 500 million acres managed by the Department of the Interior, in addition to the 423 units under National Park Service control.
Before the federal mask mandate, many parks strongly urged tourists to wear masks in crowded areas. Some required a mask to enter buildings such as welcome centers.
The mask mandate was loosened when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance in March that said people who were fully vaccinated wouldn’t need masks indoors in many situations.
Since then, the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19 and the rapid rise in coronavirus cases across the country shifted the guidance again. Now the CDC recommends all people, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in areas where there is substantial or high transmission.
In March 2020, many parks shut their gates to visitors as the coronavirus began to spread and states issued stay-at-home orders. As parks started reopening, however, tourists flocked to public lands.
Some parks have seen more visitors than ever during the pandemic. Park employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and the virus has been detected in sewage within the parks.
It’s unclear how park officials will enforce the mask mandate.
“Visitors should always research the park they want to visit in advance to ensure an enjoyable and safe experience,” the National Park Service said. “Park rangers are on duty to uphold normal rules and regulations and assist visitors as needed.”
OPEC is raping the global economy again.
The invaders are rushing across our open southern border
But, Buy-DUNG...something has to give1
MASK UP, peasant, if you dare to enter one of YOUR National Park!
That'll show the Tally-ban!
/s
Dare to slap a mask on my bare face and I'll go Judge shopping to find one who will sustain charges of ag asualt and official oppression.
Then I just wouldn’t go to a park such as that. There are several great park areas that are not famous or heavily used.
Hey,Buy-DUNG: I won’t take your “health orders” seriously unless and until you take our BORDERS seriously!
Come and get me, you USSS puzzies!
How about the NPS jams their macks up their 0bama?
I’ll have to find a nearby NPS to flout this macks mandate from the Senile Puppetdent.
Does anyone realize masks have no affect on viruses?
Probably provoke an armed response from a fed law enforcement officer.
It’s not about the virus. It’s about conditioning, control and domination. Submit. Be free. Be happy, slave.
We have to obey Democrats, but Democrats don’t have to obey us when we win. We have a real problem here.
they al know it, it’s not about safety, it’s about domination
If I identify as a Biden, can I ignore it like he and his family did hours after he implemented his ridiculous order?
Where is the science for the mask mandate?ohhh— no where
“... tourists and employees will be required to wear masks where they are crowds ...”
“... they are crowds ...”
Written by a fan of hip hop. Illiterate.
Does anyone realize masks have no affect on viruses?
—
The mask has become a sort of wearable security blanket. It doesn’t do anything, but it seems to make some feel more secure.
The entities that are most closely connected with government—libraries, National Parks, schools, the DMV—are the ones most enthusiastic about requiring masks both indoors and outdoors.
Public organizations and spaces= bad. Private organizations and spaces=good. Never before in the United States has this difference been starker. And I’ve always supported parks and libraries. What a disappointment.
Outdoor masking? Come on. The virus is nearly impossible to transmit outdoors.
The NPS has been one of the worst from the very start. All federal agencies have been nuts, of course, following the dictates of Fauci the Ultimate Bureaucrat, but the NPS closed everything and fled the first time around. They were just getting back to semi-normal in some parks…I guess it depends on the head ranger…and now they’ve gone crazy again.
And the park rangers who used to give great nature walks and historical tlaks are now nothing more than the outdoor equivalent of TSA kapos, enforcing irrational rules and taking pleasure in keeping people out of their - the peoples’ - parks.
That or your "protesting" against racism and police brutality.
What about US Army Corps of Engineers sites?
I visited Rocky Mountain National Park in late July. So glad I got there before this insanity.
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