Pestilence and re plague RMNP in 2020
photo of Moraine Park fire damage taken by Dave Rusk on Nov. 2 From RMNP Press Releases by Barb Boyer Buck, Managing Editor A global pandemic and record-se ng wildfires conspired to make 2020 a difficult year in Rocky Mountain Na onal Park. As of the end of October, 2020, recrea onal visita on was about 32 percent below 2019 numbers. This was due in no small part to a new med-entry reserva on system to mi gate for COVID19, a er a more than twomonth closure of the Park to all visitors. This ini al closure occurred on March 20 and was the result of a plea to the na on's Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, by the then-Town of Estes Park mayor, Todd Jirsa. "A con nued influx of visitors at this cri cal me presents a grave public health concern to Estes Park and our surrounding communi es," stated Jirsa in his le er. "We have an older, high-risk popula on with
many re rees and limited cri cal resources." Park officials agreed that nearly 80 percent of RMNP's 4.67 million visitors in 2019 entered via Estes Park, a small community with only 23 hospital beds at the local medical center. A li le more than two months later, Rocky reopened and the med-entry reserva on system was implemented on June 4. Reserva ons were required to enter RMNP between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., designed to limit vehicles to numbers not recorded for more than 20 years. Daily visita on before and a er the reserva on period was not regulated. The med-entry system was in place un l October 13, 2020. Not even 10 days later, Rocky was completely closed again when the two biggest wildfires in Colorado history breached the Park's boundaries. The East Troublesome Fire began in Grand County on October 14 and quickly moved into the west side of RMNP. On Oct. 21, the fire ran 18 miles east and spo ed over the
