My husband Dave’s recent post about silly Covid-19 pandemic rules was wrong. Turns out that closing vast tracts of public park land to people wanting to get fresh air and sunshine is NOT silly when We the People are irresponsible, when we violate our sacred trust.
He complained about public park closures, using as a case in point the #ChickamaugaNMP in NW Georgia. That Civil War battlefield is 5300 acres of National Military Park with roads, trails, vistas, fields, woods, nature, sunshine and fresh air … but all roads through it are closed. He thought it was to protect people.
Wrong! It was to protect the park from people.
He learned from park volunteers that, as Covid-19 hit, hundreds, even thousands of people, came to this Civil War battlefield, this sacred space. Many walked the trails, meditated, enjoyed nature and honored this hallowed ground, as they should. BUT others held parties, set up BBQ grills near monuments and tent shelters in fields. They caused traffic jams. They left garbage all over. Some even got out their metal detectors, searching for and digging up Civil War artifacts … which has been illegal for decades.
In short, they trashed the Chickamauga National Military Park. And so the park superintendent took responsible, care-giving action, and shut down not only the visitors center, but all access to the park.
In his first post, my husband Dave said: “The park’s land should be available” …. But now, in this video, he says that when We, the People can’t take care of sacred ground, places that are entrusted to us, then those types of places should be shut down.
We the People can do better. We the People MUST do better … or we deserve to have these national shrines and treasures closed, even when we need them the most.