United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
National Capital Area – Region 1
Rock Creek Park
3545 Williamsburg Lane, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008-1207
10D
Record of Determination for the Continuation of Temporary Closures of Public Facilities
Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.5(a), Rock Creek Park, a unit of the National Park Service is continuing the temporary closure of National Park Service facilities which it administers. The National Park Service initially enacted these restrictions on March 20, 2020, in response to guidance and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). A Record of Determination (ROD) was extended several times and the temporary closures gradually reduced as the National Park Service moved towards resumption of normal operations in Rock Creek Park. The facility closures include public access to the following:
• Rock Creek Park Nature Center & Planetarium, 5200 Glover Road NW
The closure will remain in place until May 30, 2022. This temporary facilities 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.
Notice: This administrative order applies to all individuals subject to the regulatory authority of the National Park Service (NPS) within the boundaries of Rock Creek Park, including park visitors, government employees, concession employees, park residents, and stakeholders, except as follows: Rock Creek Park and National Capital Area staff, United States Park Police, authorized Special Use Permit holders, and authorized park contractors
