Thurston Commissioners Vote to Officially Reopen County Trails During COVID-19 Shutdown

Thurston County commissioners voted 2-1 on Thursday to reopen the county’s three trails and many trailheads it manages, which have been closed along with most of the county’s facilities in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

County parks remain closed, after discussion and a unanimous board vote. This nuanced approach — parks closed, trails open — largely aligns with that of cities within the county.

The county manages the Chehalis Western Trail, which runs north-south through the county, the Yelm-Tenino Trail, which runs east-west, and the Ralph Munro Trail, near The Evergreen State College, according to county officials. All three trails are 10 feet wide and paved, officials say.

“Closing” the trails consisted of staff placing small, bright green signs announcing the closure along the trails and at trailheads, Kerry Hibdon, Parks and Trails Manager, told the Board of County Commissioners this week.

Commissioners first discussed reopening trails at a work session Tuesday, when Commissioner Tye Menser brought the issue forward.

A citizen had asked him why people couldn’t park at the Chambers Lake trailhead, which is on the Chehalis Western Trail, and were forced to park down the street, Menser said. He didn’t know the trails were closed, so the citizen’s argument made sense to him, he told The Olympian in a phone interview.

People were still using the trails, County Manager Ramiro Chavez said, and from his perspective it would be nearly impossible to actually close every single point of access to the trails, since plenty have formed behind homes or in neighborhoods.

Not knowing the trails themselves were closed, Menser originally brought forward a motion to reopen county-managed access points, he said. At the meeting, he said he has two kids at home and their activities are extremely limited now — and that they’re only allowed to bike on trails, not busy city streets.

During this shutdown, he said, mental and physical health are important.

“I think it’s critical that we have access to these trails to the extent possible,” Menser said.

That opened a discussion that Commissioner Gary Edwards rapidly expanded.

Edwards posited that perhaps the county should open all its parks, too. The decision to close county parks was “stupid,” he said, and people are conscious of social-distancing recommendations, which include staying at least 6 feet away from one another.

“This whole thing, by closing down all parks, state fishing, state access — I don’t know who came up with that idea, but I believe it was designed by people that live in a ghetto and they don’t have a vehicle,” Edwards said Tuesday.

Chavez said he believes the closures were a result of eliminating gatherings, which Edwards acknowledged he knew.

“I agree with Commissioner Menser 100%, people need to be able to take their family members, especially, and at least try to enjoy some normalcy,” Edwards said.

By the end of the Tuesday discussion, the board agreed to open all trailheads and explore opening parks.

But their thoughts on the matter had evolved by Thursday.

Menser told The Olympian he got input from community members and local public health officials about the issue and understood that reopening parks could be confusing, so he immediately backed off that idea, he said.

The board on Thursday unanimously voted not to open parks, and the trailhead decision got a little more complicated.

Chavez told commissioners that Jay Burney, Olympia’s Interim City Manager, had raised concerns about the commissioners’ decision to open all trailheads, that Olympia requested it not open any that are within city limits.

The Chambers Lake and Woodard Bay trailheads on the Chehalis Western Trail are both on state land, Chavez said. They’re also the only two county trailheads with gates, and Chambers Lake is the only trailhead with a brick-and-mortar restroom, plus the only county-managed trailhead in the city of Olympia.

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and the state departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife have closed state lands through May 4, when Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order is currently slated to end.

Commissioners agreed not to take any affirmative action to open those two trailheads, so they’ll remain closed, but they voted 2-1 to open the rest.

Reopening, essentially, just means taking down the small signs along the trails and at trailheads, Chavez confirmed with The Olympian in a phone interview Friday.

“Nothing really changes, except now it’s permissible to access the trails pursuant to social distancing guidelines that have been laid out by our public health department,” Menser told The Olympian.

Commissioner John Hutchings, who serves as chair of the board, was the only commissioner not in favor of opening the trailheads, though he said he too is focused on mental health. He said that, after talking to experts, he didn’t want to be a “rogue county” or send a confusing message.

“If it’s closed, it’s closed until this daggum thing is over and we can say it’s safe to come out,” Hutchings said.

Edwards and Menser argued the decision was consistent with Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home” order, which includes as essential activities “engaging in outdoor exercise activities, such as walking, hiking, running or biking, but only if appropriate social distancing practices are used.”

Though these activities were happening de facto on the closed trails, Menser said he’s the type of person who would turn around if he saw a “closed” sign. The trails are wide enough to practice social distancing, and trails are different than parks because they’re linear and meant for motion, not gathering, he said.

“I think that the trails ought to be open, consistent with the governor’s order,” Menser said.

If he would’ve heard a clear “absolutely do not do this” from Thurston County’s interim health officer, he would not have supported it, Menser says.

In an interview Friday, Schelli Slaughter, director of Thurston County Public Health & Social Services, told The Olympian that public health officials did not make a recommendation one way or the other, but shared their perspective that it can be hard to maintain social-distancing guidelines on trails and they don’t want people to think it’s safe to be going out and recreating yet.

“We do have a concern that if people start to think that it’s OK to go out and go places to recreate, that might make people think that it’s OK to do other things,” Slaughter said. “And one of the things we’ve had a big concern about is our youth congregating together.”

While officials are hopeful, this situation still needs to be taken seriously, she said.

“It’s going to take us making sacrifices for a while longer for us to prevent more COVID-19 in our community.”

LOCAL CITIES’ APPROACHES TO PARKS & TRAILS

Other local governments here have similarly been re-evaluating and taking more nuanced approaches than the state’s sweeping lands closure.

Olympia had shut down parks and trails, originally, but loosened restrictions when the governor extended the “Stay Home” order, city spokesperson Kellie Purce Braseth wrote in a text message to The Olympian. Parks and facilities are still closed, but the city’s now allowing people to use trails near or in their neighborhoods — trails they can walk or bike to — as long as they maintain social distancing.

“We absolutely do not want to confuse people that the parks are open and have them gathering or driving to trailheads and parking in neighborhoods,” Purce Braseth wrote. “And if people don’t get the nuance and go to the parks like they are open, it could spread the virus in the community.”

In Tumwater, parks, restrooms, trails, and the city’s golf course were all open after the initial “Stay Home” order issued March 23, spokesperson Ann Cook told The Olympian. The governor’s office provided some clarity that resulted in the city closing the golf course and the driving range, and when Inslee extended the “Stay Home” order to May 4, the city closed its parks and locked its restrooms.

Tumwater’s trails remain open and the city “encourages people who are using the trails to practice social distancing and stay healthy,” Cook said.

Lacey city parks are open 7 a.m. to dark, but parking gates are locked to discourage groups from gathering, according to its website. Park restrooms and group amenities are also closed, and the city requests people “use open spaces and trails responsibly” by practicing social distancing, bringing hand sanitizer, and taking other similar measures.

Lacey City Manager Scott Spence confirmed on Saturday that the information on the website was up-to-date.