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On Saturday, July 31, 2021, at approximately 1 p.m., the National Park Service will close Reservation 82, bounded by 2nd and D Streets, NE, the park at 2nd and D Streets, NE to prune and possibly remove two hazardous trees.
Following severe thunderstorms in the Washington, D.C., region, on July 27, 2021, the NPS conducted an assessment of tree damage. Certified arborists identified serious tree hazards from two declining Linden trees. One tree has a large dead stub and a dead/declining limb. The other tree has a large limb with a cavity hole. These trees are deemed as severe risk to public safety due to their condition, location, and amount of visitation in the area. Based on the arborists’ assessment, the park needs to be closed to allow the NPS safely prune and possibly remove the trees. This park closure is necessary for the protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as the environmental and scenic values. Less restrictive measures will not suffice because the tree’s current condition presents a hazard to park visitors. The park area will remain closed until such time that rehabilitation measures have been completed.
Any temporary structure used for camping will be subject to seizure and may be reclaimed by the property owner at 1200 Ohio Drive, SW, if done within 60 days. Items determined to be trash or a bio-hazard, however, will be disposed of as refuse, so individuals are advised to promptly dispose of any such items.
This temporary and partial closure is not of a nature, magnitude and duration that will result in a “significant alteration in the public use pattern.” Other nearby park areas will remain open to the public. The closure will not adversely affect the parks’ natural, aesthetic, or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objectives; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the NPS determines that publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register, is unwarranted per 36 C.F.R. § l.5(c). This is consistent with hundreds of earlier partial and temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications.
Picciotto v. United States. No. 99-2113 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C.); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C.); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F.Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), affld in part w/o op. 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995).
Pursuant to 36 C.F.R.§ 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made through fencing and posting of signs at conspicuous locations in the affected park areas. Finally, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request. 
______________________________________________ Tara D. Morrison, July 30 2021 Superintendent, National Capital Parks—East |
Last updated: July 30, 2021