Notice to the PublicThe National Park Service is extending the temporary closure of the Oxon Cove Trail in Oxon Cove Park to ensure visitor safety while the trail is repaved and the bridge to Forest Heights is replaced. The trail was closed to the public at approximately 12:00 am on April 22, 2024, and was to remain closed through 11:59 pm on December 16, 2024, is now being extended until 11:59 pm on December 31, 2024. Violation is prohibited. A map illustrating the closed park areas is attached. This temporary closure and public use limit is necessary for the protection of visitors, park staff, and contractors as heavy construction machinery completes repaving operations on the narrow trail. Additionally, the bridge between Forest Heights and Oxon Cove is being replaced, so there is not a safe path for visitors to cross the stream in that location. Persons using these park areas should remove themselves and any personal property from the closed park areas in accordance with the ongoing temporary closure. The National Park Service appreciates the public’s cooperation in this matter. The National Park Service is extending the temporary closure of the Oxon Cove Trail in Oxon Cove Park to ensure visitor safety while the trail is repaved and the bridge to Forest Heights is replaced. The trail was closed to the public at approximately 12:00 am on April 22, 2024, and was to remain closed through 11:59 pm on September 3, 2024, is now being extended until 11:59 pm on December 16, 2024 Violation is prohibited. A map illustrating the closed park areas is attached. This temporary closure and public use limit is necessary for the protection of visitors, park staff, and contractors as heavy construction machinery completes repaving operations on the narrow trail. Additionally, the bridge between Forest Heights and Oxon Cove is being replaced, so there is not a safe path for visitors to cross the stream in that location. Persons using these park areas should remove themselves and any personal property from the closed park areas in accordance with the ongoing temporary closure. The National Park Service appreciates the public’s cooperation in this matter. Tara D. Morrison Superintendent Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5, the National Park Service is imposing a temporary closure of certain parkland within National Capital Parks - East, specifically the Oxon Cove Trail in Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm. Periods of Closure: The entire Oxon Cove Trail will be closed to all visitors for the period of April 22, 2024, through September 3, 2024. Construction work to rehabilitate the Oxon Cove Trail will create unsafe conditions for park visitors, NPS employees, and contracted crews while the repair work is being performed that necessitates the trail closure. This closure prohibits all vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic on the Oxon Cove Trail. Signage indicating the trail closures and detours will be placed throughout the park. Less restrictive measures will not suffice in ensuring protection of the public, workers, and park resources. Although the NPS anticipates re-opening this section of trail by September 3, 2024, the Oxon Cove Trail will remain closed until such time that all repairs have been completed. 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.” Indeed, other nearby park areas will remain open to the public. The closure will not adversely affect the park's natural, aesthetic, or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objections; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the National Park Service 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. Lulan, 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). United States Department of the Interior National Capital Parks-East NATIONAL PARK SERVICE National Capital Region 1900 Anacostia Drive, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20020 April 3, 2024 IN REPLY REFER TO: 10.B (NCR-NACE) United States Department of the Interior National Capital Parks-East NATIONAL PARK SERVICE National Capital Region 1900 Anacostia Drive, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20020 April 19, 2024 2 Pursuant to 36 C.F.R.§ 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made through the posting of signs at conspicuous locations in the affected park area. Finally, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request. Tara D. Morrison Superintendent |
Last updated: December 7, 2024