Legislation To Reopen Monument Valley and Other Tribal Parks Floated

Above, the Mittens at Monument Valley around dusk. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Legislation in the Navajo Nation has been floated before the tribal council to reopen Monument Valley Tribal Park and other tribal parks.

Monument Valley and other tribal parks have been closed for over a year when the coronavirus outbreak started.

According to the Navajo Times:

Legislation to reopen Navajo tribal parks to visitors is currently in its five-day comment period, after the Navajo Nation reported a large increase of 31 new COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Last year, before a COVID-19 case was reported on the Navajo Nation, the Parks and Recreation Department under the Division of Natural Resources  shut down all parks until further notice. Up until Friday the Navajo Nation had been experiencing low case numbers and went from orange to yellow status, allowing for parks to reopen but only to Navajo Nation residents.

“We are taking baby steps to reopen,” said President Jonathan Nez in his weekly town hall meeting. “Everyone around the country knows how hard Navajo Nation was hit. Visitors, I just ask for your patience and consideration. We are focusing on our Navajo citizens. We will reopen but we are doing this very slowly.”

This new legislation to reopen of the Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Monument Valley Welcome Center, Little Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park, Four Corners Monument and Tséyi’ Diné Heritage Area, is sponsored by Council Delegate Paul Begay and co-sponsored by Mark Freeland, Nathaniel Brown and Thomas Walker Jr.

It would be nice to see the tribal parks reopen. I last visited Monument Valley five years ago.

To read more, go here.