Navajo Nation Council Votes To Fully Reopen Parks and Recreation Areas

Above, Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock, Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The tribal parks and other recreational areas within the Navajo Nation may be reopening soon, if the Navajo Nation Council gets its way.

These include such places as Monument Valley Tribal Park and Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock, Arizona.

According to the Farmington Daily Times:

FARMINGTON — The Navajo Nation Council has backed a bill to fully reopen parks and recreation areas managed by the tribe's parks and recreation department since the tribe's COVID-19 infection rates have slowed.

The council voted 23-0 in favor of the measure at a special session on June 3.

Despite the support, reopening the locations is not a done deal, a department official said.

"Navajo Parks and Recreation Department cannot unilaterally reopen tribal parks without approval from the Navajo Department of Health and the Office of the President and Vice President regardless of the council's action. If the president approves the legislation the tribal parks would reopen the next day," Department Manager Martin Begaye, said in a June 4 statement to The Daily Times.

That is a big IF. We shall see.

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