Sanctum Sealed: Reopening Our State and National Parks
This past Monday, I read a news release that is still echoing like sweet music in my ears: On May 5, most state parks and public lands in Washington will reopen.
Let me start by stating that COVID-19 is a significant and serious public health emergency that is sweeping our globe and overwhelming our health systems. There is no cure for this. There is no vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has repeatedly stated that our best weapon in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is to remain out of congregate settings, avoid mass gatherings, and maintain distance (approximately 6 feet) from others when possible.
As a physician, I fully support those recommendations and the life-saving impact they are capable of having on our communities. However, I prefer to describe what is being recommended as “Physical Distancing” rather than “Social Distancing” because it captures the importance of maintaining community on an emotional level while putting the physical space between ourselves and others to reduce transmission of COVID-19 and flatten the curve of this pandemic. We must remain emotionally connected, perhaps now more than ever. Our distance should be physical, not social.
The wilderness is an ideal place to practice physical distancing while maintaining the things that make living in Washington so special. The outdoors offer solitude, a physical outlet and -- for me at least -- mental stability.
With the upheaval of everyday life that is becoming ubiquitous under the COVID-19 pandemic, the reopening of our public lands represents the reemergence of an essential tool in achieving refuge from this dystopian “new normal.”
Hiking has been shown to decrease the risk of high heart disease, improve blood pressure and even have a positive impact on stress and anxiety. I believe we can better achieve these health outcomes when our parks are open. With that said, we must be responsible in our approach.
“Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints.”
When our parks reopen next week, we should allow Chief Seattle’s wise words guide our actions to keep our parks open as a safe and healthy place to embrace the natural beauty of Washington.
We should avoid writing in trailhead and summit notebooks and, instead, record our messages using online tracking/permits. This will help us avoid contact with an array of fomites.
Strict parking limits should be established at trailheads to offer people a chance to access their favorite trails without overcrowding them.
Hikers should be advised against stopping to talk with other hikers and, if they do pass other hikers on the trail, encouraged to maintain a safe physical distance from one another.
Although I would normally want to support small rural businesses, during this time we should bring all of the supplies we need from home to avoid stopping at rural gas stations and convenience stores where we may inadvertently spread the virus to smaller communities.
Although I would normally encourage carpooling to decrease our carbon footprint, during this time we should avoid carpooling except with people we already life in close contact with.
We should bring hand sanitizers with us and use them diligently.
And as always, we should stay at home if we are sick.
These are not complicated requests. When faced with the option of either following those recommendations and enjoying the beauty our area offers or ignoring them and being closed off from those locations, I am confident that physical distancing will prevail.
The reopening of our outdoor pastimes allows us to continue doing the things we love, by simply doing them a little differently.
“ Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”
Stay strong and stay safe everyone.
Crystal Martin, DO
Assistant Professor of Osteopathic Principles and Practice
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences