United States Department of the InteriorNATIONAL PARK SERVICE Record of Determination for a Partial and Temporary Closure Of Reservation 360 for Rehabilitation Rock Creek Park will close a portion of Reservation 360, at the K Street exit ramp and Rock Creek Parkway outbound, on or about May 27 to address public safety concerns, and to remove encampments and clean up the parcel. It will remain closed until October 31,2022, unless the NPS determines while rehabilitation measures are completed before that date.
The encampment at this location is a continuing health and safety problem for both the residents of the encampment and the general public. Since March, when the park and various District of Columbia agencies conducted a clean-up of this area, the parcel, which sits near the roadway and the multiuse trail, is again over-run with materials on the ground, in the trees, and in the shrubbery. There have been multiple reports to U.S. Park Police of fires, hazardous materials, dangerous behavior, and overall unsanitary conditions at this location. These unsafe and unsanitary conditions pose a danger to all park users and neighbors. Additionally, trash and refuse from the encampment, which is partially situated on the slope toward the creek, is making its way into Rock Creek, causing ecological damage to the water resources. While camping is prohibited on national parkland in DC, the NPS has adhered to CDC guidelines and allowed the encampments to remain during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is the NPS’ responsibility to consider the overall health and safety of all park users and neighbors and to remove these encampments when they pose a security, health, or safety risk. Any temporary structure used for camping will be subject to seizure and may be reclaimed by the property owner at U.S. Park Police Division 1 headquarters located at 1200 Ohio Drive, SW, if done within 60 days. Items determined to be trash or a bio-hazard, however, will be disposed of as refuse, so individuals are advised to promptly dispose of any such items. 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.” Other nearby park areas will remain open to the public. The closure will not adversely affect the parks’ natural, aesthetic, or cultural values; nor require significant modification to the resource management objectives; nor is it of a highly controversial nature. Accordingly, the NPS 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. Lujan, 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). Pursuant to 36 C.F.R.§ 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made through fencing and posting of signs at conspicuous locations in the affected park areas. Finally, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request. Date: 05/11/2022 Julia Washburn Superintendent, Rock Creek Park |
Last updated: May 13, 2022