“Visitors are surging to national parks as people across the country seek relief from coronavirus shelter-in-place orders. In the past week, Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco experienced what park officials described as “unprecedented visitation.” Thousands of travelers flooded into Virginia’s Shenandoah, while Arches in Utah and Joshua Tree in California had gate traffic jams that resembled...

“Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but the same cannot be said for lodging and food services in the park that will be shuttered for the next two months by concerns over coronavirus. Grand Canyon Lodging on Thursday announced the “difficult decision” to suspend operations beginning at noon Friday and continuing through at least...

“A newly implemented order from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires employees to work from the office at least three days per week, though the agency says it does not apply to the current situation involving the coronavirus pandemic. Tim Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, slammed the new requirements in...

“Health officials in Park and Gallatin counties have called on Yellowstone National Park’s superintendent to lock the gates. A Yellowstone spokesperson said park Superintendent Cam Sholly did not have a response to the requests. She instead said the agency is standing by recommendations it sent out on Friday regarding visitation during the COVID-19 outbreak. The...

“National parks are getting “mixed messages” on coronavirus guidance, the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said on Monday. Over 100 have closed, but most are still open and the Interior Department waived entrance fees to all parks. PEER said the department is in “contrast” to OMB guidance on minimizing face-to-face interactions.” Read the PEER...

“The Bureau of Land Management missed a key deadline in an ongoing lawsuit over Freedom of Information Act requests due to the agency’s response to the COVID-19 outbreaks. The disclosure, made in internal communications between the Justice Department and the plaintiff, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, raises questions about whether BLM leadership could put access...

“Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but the same cannot be said for lodging and food services in the park that will be shuttered for the next two months by concerns over coronavirus. The Grand Canyon Lodging announcement comes one day after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said that entry fees at all open national...

“A second Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee has tested positive for coronavirus, and another worker has come into contact with someone who tested positive. The EPA sent an email to staff Thursday informing them that the two employees work in the New England region, which covers Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont....

“Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit group that protects government workers who support environmental activism, released the results of tests for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in private wells south of the Air Force Academy. PFAS, a group of manmade chemicals that have served as ingredients in various materials (including firefighting foam once...

“After traces of PFAS chemicals were found in water samples taken near the Dunn Landfill in Rensselaer, activists are stepping up their campaign to convince the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to close the landfill. Kyla Bennett from PEER – Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility – says the group tested for 36 different...