By Ellie Borst
Cronkite News 

Tribal leaders, advocates question reopening at Grand Canyon, other parks

 

Last updated 6/12/2020 at 4:41pm

Isabel Menzel/Cronkite News

Havasupai Council member Carletta Tilousi, in a 2016 file photo with Robert Tohe, told lawmakers that exposure to COVID-19 could lead her small tribe to "be extinct."

PHOENIX-Arizona tribal leaders told House lawmakers Tuesday that moves to reopen national parks are being made without needed health safety measures to protect tribal members or park visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The comments by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Havasupai Council Member Carletta Tilousi come as the Interior Department is moving to reopen parks. That includes Grand Canyon National Park, which began allowing visitors on a limited basis last month.

But witnesses at the hearing, held by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee, said the Interior Depart...



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