OUTDOORS: Parks are opening, and it's still complicated

We’ve learned a lot about coronavirus in the last couple of months, including how to slow it down. But, perhaps the most important thing we’ve learned thus far is that it’s not going away.

So, given that the virus is here to stay for the foreseeable future, anyway, it only complicates how we, as a society, move forward. In fact, in just about every single choice we have to make, COVID-19 is complicating those choices.

And the same holds true for the re-opening of our two great national parks here in Montana. It’s complicated, but the reality is quite simple. Open Yellowstone and Glacier National Park and get Montana’s biggest economy — tourism — at least up and running again. But in doing so, coronavirus will 100 percent be brought into Montana communities, major airports and train stations, by some of the thousands, perhaps millions of out-of-state residents that visit this summer.

That’s the bottom line on that. The national parks opening means people will bring coronavirus to Montana, a state that currently still has the least amount of active cases in the country as of Wednesday night, even though Montana's numbers have begun to rise slightly.

But, even with that, Montana has entered Phase II of Gov. Steve Bullock's re-opening plan, which included not only the three Montana gates to Yellowstone opening on Monday — two weeks after the two Wyoming gates to the park opened. But, Phase II also eliminated the requirement that all travelers coming into Montana quarantine for 14 days.

So, those two factors alone, will no doubt complicate Montana's COVID-19 situation, eventually.

Still, first and foremost, I love Glacier and Yellowstone, and my wife and I visit those parks three, sometimes four times in a given summer. We take spectacular hiking trips that provide memories that are going to last the rest of our lives. So the thought of not being able to do that this summer is heartbreaking. It’s something I can barely wrap my head around.

Secondly, I love our great state of Montana, and I don’t want to see our economy struggling. Montana nets $3.2 billion annually in tourism, and a huge chunk of that is earned during the brief summer seasons of Glacier and Yellowstone. So, opening those parks, even in a limited capacity, would certainly help what is a devastated tourism industry right now.

But is that going to come at a greater cost? That’s the billion-dollar question none of us can answer right now. It’s going to be more like the canary in the coal mine. We’ll have to see how it all turns out later this year, because places like Glacier and Yellowstone will open.

Thus far, Yellowstone has reported minimal social distancing being observed and less than 35 percent of its visitors wearing face masks, which, are not required for park users.

The park also saw normal visitation over Memorial Day weekend, and now, with Montana's gates open too, it's only going to get busier.

Farther north, Glacier hasn’t announced a re-open date just yet. It did announce a very detailed, three-phase re-opening plan, that is very consistent with social distancing guidelines, and mitigation practices. Still, eventually, the park will open, at least the West Glacier Gate and Going to the Sun Road at the end of this month, and when those two events happen, a lot of people will flock to Glacier, and it's gateway communities.

Of course, both parks have warned visitors that they won't be experiencing normal park amenities any time soon, if at all this season.

In other words, if you plan to go to either park this summer, don’t, for one second, think you’re going to get the experience we’ve all become accustomed to in Yellowstone or GNP. It isn’t going to happen. It won’t happen because safety is going to take precedence over fun.

Still, no matter how safe the National Park Service makes us this summer inside the borders, it can’t protect us all from COVID-19. There is no way to protect small Montana gateway communities like West Yellowstone, West Glacier, St. Mary’s, Gardiner and others from people from all corners of the country and beyond bringing coronavirus into those communities. That’s a fact that anyone who lives or works in those communities and anyone who travels to them this summer is going to have to live with. If Glacier and Yellowstone are open for business, and in some capacity they will be, then coronavirus is going to come to both places. It’s that simple.

And that fact goes back to why issues like these are so complicated. Glacier and Yellowstone are so important and so vital to Montana and Montanans, but this summer that vitality, no matter how cautious the NPS and the governments of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are going to be, will come with a price, and that price is, COVID-19 being brought into our state. That fact certainly has me confused on how to proceed, and time will tell just what the consequences will be from having our two amazing national parks open this summer will be.

But, as someone who loves Glacier and Yellowstone dearly, as someone who loves their great gateway communities, and as someone who’s heart bleeds for the economic heartache Montana is going through right now, all I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best and for better days ahead.