CLOSING OPEN SPACE WILL DECREASE OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY
Open Boulder strongly supports our Open Space and Mountain Parks Department, along with all the current laws and regulations, which are designed to protect the environment and the health and safety of our citizens during this pandemic. The closure of any part of our public lands would not increase our safety; instead it would decrease our health and well-being and place a large burden on OSMP Staff.
Outdoor Recreation is very low risk and remains a recommended practice
Governor Polis has done a fantastic job protecting Colorado, and everything he has said should be followed. Outdoor recreation was specifically excluded in his Stay At Home Order (Public Health Order 20-24), as clarified in the FAQ’s:
"It is physically and mentally healthy to be outdoors. Be outdoors at times and in places where you can maintain 6 feet of physical distance between yourself and others.”
Exercising outdoors was excluded from the Order because it has been scientifically verified to be the single best thing humans can do for their physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as improve immune resistance. In addition, there is unlimited diffusion and dispersion of virus particles outdoors, where ultraviolet light and wind also play a positive role. Commonly practiced indoor group activity, such as grocery shopping, is far riskier than being outside. The science is clear:
“If people are practicing sound respiratory hygiene, sound hand hygiene, they’re distancing themselves physically from others outside, and you’re exercising and walking in the park - I think that’s actually a good public health practice”. - Dr Albert Ko, Yale Epidemiologist
An attempt at closure would increase hardship on an already stressed public and our staff
There are numerous social parties and gatherings taking place indoors right now, which are risky behavior, and should be aggressively curtailed. Asking Police or Rangers to also enforce a closure of public land, where the risk is comparatively minute, would be an irrational waste of important resources. And unlike urban violations, it is not possible to police 45,000 acres of mountains and prairie; rather than few road gates that we can simply lock and close, as the Director of OSMP noted, “There are 254 access points in our system.”
City Parks and Recreation Centers were closed, because maintaining 6’ distance is impossible in confined space. Governor Polis closed all ski areas for the same reason, and left open all other public land also for the same reason: one can spread out, be healthy, while following the law. Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks readily allows for safe exercise; it surrounds us and is 7 times the area of the developed portion of the city.
Closing any public land is extremely problematic; that would drive people into the remaining places they can be outside, which is the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve.
The basic concept of “Closure” is questionable
If someone is driving unsafely we stop that person - we don’t stop everyone by closing the street they were driving on. When potholes develop on Broadway, we don’t punish all motorists by closing Broadway; we repair the street. Our Police, Fire, and Public Works Departments protect and maintain our public safety and property; our Open Space and Mountain Parks is a City Department with the same role. The OSMP Staff is excellent; we strongly support them in doing their job; they should patrol the trailheads and cite any violators of the 6’ Distancing law.
Education is working
On April 9 the OSMP Department released a Statement re-emphasizing that Governor Polis’s Order definitely applies to our public land. All recreation groups immediately issued unified statements of total agreement and strong support. Every recreation group in the city used the same language as the OSMP Department; this unprecedented effort went out to over 10,000 people.
We can do this
And not throw the baby out with the bath water. The curve already is flattening in Boulder. Our Governor gave us a simple plan we should continue to follow: It is physically and mentally healthy to be outdoors, everyone must obey the law, and rather than respond to fear, we should make rational community decisions that actually protect our health and safety.
—Open Boulder Board of Directors