About four weeks ago, the National Park Service announced it would waive entrance fees to national parks and other properties, including Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. In the time since that announcement, the number of visitors to the battlefield has grown – and that increase is one contributing factor in a decision to close the battlefield altogether, beginning on Saturday, April 11.
Battlefield acting superintendent Russ Runge said in a statement Friday that the park will be closed to visitors for an undetermined amount of time because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“It was a difficult decision to close the Battlefield. Every day, many people enjoy the resources available here, but closing will help protect the community, visitors, and employees from the COVID-19 virus. We will continue to be good stewards of your National Treasure and will welcome you back as soon as possible,” the statement said.
The battlefield joins several other National Park Service properties – including flagship parks like Grand Canyon and Yosemite – in closing to visitors. Public Information Officer Kristine Abbey said every decision to close is based on local circumstances, but is evaluated by higher-ups in the park system.
“From the national level, every park that’s closing is doing it with guidance from regional and national offices,” said Abbey. “The main goal for modification of park operations is to slow the spread of novel coronavirus. We consider that everyone’s responsibility, and a big part of that is social distancing.”
Abbey couldn’t provide details of the increase in visitors, but said the number of people in the park has been “higher than normal.” As the number of visitors went up, Wilson’s Creek staff members became more concerned about their ability to keep them all safe – and keep themselves safe – with limited resources.
Certain areas of the park tend to draw crowds, including the Ray House and some narrow hiking trails where maintaining a six-foot distance is not practical. Those areas were a factor in the decision, and so was the increased traffic along the roads in the park.
“We also had some concerns about not only social distancing, but also traffic within the park. We have a lot of bikers, walkers, and families using that pedestrian lane which runs parallel to our road,” she said. “We have a small staff at Wilson’s Creek, and the majority of that staff is teleworking. That has put an additional burden on our law enforcement and our maintenance team.”
Abbey could not give a timetable for reopening, but she pointed out that the battlefield has not yet cancelled its events for May. Park officials will make announcements about any status changes on the battlefield’s website or its Facebook page.
“They have a whole decision-making tree, and I’m sure they’re going to have to go through the same process as getting the park closed,” she said. “It’s going to be going through the regional and Washington office, and it’s going to have to be weighed up to the Washington level on a park-by-park basis.”