Interior shuts Washington Monument after interior secretary tests positive for the coronavirus
Park Service staff say they may have been exposed when David Bernhardt led a private, after-hours tour
By
Juliet Eilperin,
Lisa Rein and
Darryl Fears
Dec. 18, 2020 at 12:18 p.m. EST
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Officials have taken the extraordinary step of closing the Washington Monument starting Friday as a precaution after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — who had been giving private, nighttime tours to associates — tested positive for the coronavirus.
Interior spokesman Nicholas Goodwin confirmed the temporary closure, saying the department acted after consulting with federal health officials. Bernhardt had led other Trump DOI appointees on a tour earlier this week. Some National Park Service staff at the site said they had been exposed to the secretary during his after-hours tour and are now in quarantine, which has led to a staffing shortage at the monument, Goodwin said.
“As we do in all circumstances when an employee attests to having covid-19, we work with our public health officials to ensure all guidance from the CDC is followed, such as identifying close contacts and cleaning areas as appropriate,” Goodwin said. “The Secretary was recently at the Washington Monument. In working with our public officials and out of an abundance of caution, a couple of employees have quarantined resulting in a temporary workforce reduction at the monument and its temporary closure.”
The secretary’s diagnosis Wednesday forced the cancellation of a large Interior Department holiday party scheduled for Thursday night, and it is raising concerns about his deputy’s plans to visit two national parks next week. Deputy Secretary Katharine MacGregor, who is headed to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks starting Monday, has asked National Park Service staff to drive her between them and provide tours of Yellowstone for four days, according to several federal officials briefed on the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. Depending on the route, the trip is 113 miles and should take roughly three hours by car.
MacGregor’s trip to Wyoming “will move forward as planned” because the department’s team of public health professionals had examined her recent activities and determined she “has not had close contact with Secretary Bernhardt as described by CDC guidance,” Goodwin said. He added, “the health and safety of the public and our employees is our top priority.”
“Interior has an incredible team of more than 60 public health professionals on staff that have been leading the Department’s pandemic response efforts with the Secretary and other members of leadership over the past year,” he said, adding that since the Washington Monument reopened Oct. 1, no Park Service staffer working there has tested positive for the coronavirus.
MacGregor will visit newly renovated staff housing in the park, officials said, which has been a major administration priority. Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Rob Wallace, who lives in Wyoming and is working remotely, may accompany MacGregor on her park tour, officials said.
Bernhardt, who tested positive for the coronavirus before he was to attend a Cabinet meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, has been in proximity with several Interior officials in the past week. Political appointees had meetings Monday and Tuesday, according to two federal officials, which culminated with a reception with food and drink in the secretary’s office.
Several of the appointees walked through the building to the secretary’s office without wearing face coverings, according to one of the officials. Some of the highest-ranking officials at Interior — including Bernhardt and MacGregor — have not consistently worn masks, according to two individuals.
The shuttering of the Washington Monument, where visitors normally crowd into a small elevator to ascend to the top, has implications for D.C.'s tourist industry. The administration first closed it in mid-March, then reopened it in October. Under pandemic procedures, a limited number of people are allowed in the elevator at any one time, and they must be spaced six feet apart.
A notice posted on the Park Service’s website reads, “Consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance and in coordination with the NPS Office of Public Health, the Washington Monument is temporarily closed due to a reduction in its workforce resulting from a potential COVID-19 exposure.”
“NPS is working to staff the Washington Monument at the appropriate levels to maintain the safety of its operations for visitors and employees,” it adds.
Theresa Pierno, president and chief executive of the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit group that supports the park system, said in an email that the move illustrates that “Bernhardt has been careless and reckless managing our national parks and public lands throughout this pandemic.”
“His irresponsible behavior has put countless park rangers in harm’s way, further demonstrating his failure to put the health and safety of park visitors and rangers at risk,” she added. “To use our parks as his own personal playground is shameful, and a slap in the face to the American people.”
Bernhardt is not the only interior secretary to lead private tours of the nation’s most famous park sites. His predecessor Ryan Zinke brought friends and family members on park trips across the country, touring everywhere from the basement of the Lincoln Memorial to California’s Channel Islands National Park.
With a month remaining before the Trump administration ends, MacGregor plans to visit two national parks in Wyoming. While department officials are now reassessing the activities she will do during the trip, the initial itinerary called for Park Service employees to pick her up in Bozeman, Mont., and drive her to the park, as well as provide transportation at times during her stay.
MacGregor has asked to go snowshoeing during her visit, as well as for transportation to be arranged between Yellowstone and Jackson Hole Airport. Transportation options include a snow coach or van, both of which would be enclosed, or a snowmobile, which is not.
Some employees at both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have expressed concerns about the possibility of coming in close contact with MacGregor during her trip, according to three officials. Bernhardt may travel to both parks early next month, these officials added, though those plans have not yet been finalized.
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Chair Phil Francis, whose group represents both Park Service retirees as well as current officials, noted that “while we hope the secretary will recover,” the fact that he visited staff at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in early May and “there was no sign of the secretary wearing a mask or social distancing” raises concerns.
“It’s truly unbelievable that Secretary Bernhardt and his staff would plan a trip to Yellowstone at a time when the pandemic is raging,” Francis said in an interview. “The lack of concern for others is astounding.”
MacGregor would not be the first high-ranking Interior official to visit Yellowstone under a lame-duck president. Then-Secretary Sally Jewell flew to the area just before Thanksgiving in 2016 to announce a two-year ban on new mining claims outside the park.
At the time the administration was racing to impose new restrictions on development near the park. Several proposals for gold exploration just north of Yellowstone had sparked opposition from business owners and environmentalists as a threat to tourism and outdoor recreation.
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