The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TOURS FLAMBEAU OUTDOORS
Flambeau sales increase as people venture outdoors amid pandemic
“As they reopen, we’re working to manage our facilities to be in conjunction with them in a way that’s helpful and responsible.” — David Bernhardt
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt made two stops in Northeast Ohio May 14, including the Flambeau Outdoors facility in Middlefield.
Bernhardt toured the facility after a stop in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Flambeau Outdoors manufactures a variety of products for hunters and outdoorsmen.
The Department of the Interior stated that Flambeau has seen an uptick in sales as people venture outdoors during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“What a great story to walk through here and hear folks have been working throughout this whole effort and have done a really incredible job of
moving forward in this period of time,” Bernhardt said.
The Department of the Interior oversees the National Park Service. Following his Flambeau tour, Bernhardt discussed reopening plans for the parks.
National parks are in varying states of closure. Most park buildings, facilities, and restrooms have been closed. In some cases, entire parks are closed. At the Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, the facilities are closed, but the outdoor grounds (walking trail and cell phone tour) are open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. “We have 60 public health officers,” Bernhardt said. “At the beginning we spent a great deal of time analyzing and coming up with a tool that everyone could use to say ‘we need to ensure public health and safety, employee safety and visitor safety.’ We need to look at every facility, every
service, every unit and go through a mitigation tool process and we worked with the public health officers to develop that.”
Bernhardt said that now as various governors are moving forward with reopening plans, his department’s job is to be “right next to those governors, right on their shoulder.
“As they reopen, we’re working to manage our facilities to be in conjunction with them in a way that’s helpful and responsible,” he said.
Bernhardt said he’s done a number of site inspections throughout the country, “as we move to align with those states and their processes.”
State plans and the president’s plans will be factored into reopening decisions that will be analyzed on a facility-by-facility basis. “There are certain things that may not be the same when you go to the park than when you went last year,” Bernhardt said. “And concessionaires have businesses and they also have to make decisions
about what they want to do and they may be different.”
U.S. Congressman Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, joined Bernhardt during the secretary’s stop at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. A news release from Joyce’s office stated that stop included a site inspection, a discussion of safely expanding access to the national parks during the pandemic, and reopened a trail in the park. Joyce and Bernhardt also heard from rangers and other park staff to discuss their experiences during the pandemic and hear their thoughts and ideas on restoring public access.
“As the Cuyahoga Valley National Park begins to responsibly restore access to the public, I will continue to work side-by-side with Secretary Bernhardt and the Interior Department to ensure we are not only protecting the health and safety of the park’s visitors, but also that of the park rangers and hardworking staff,” Joyce said in a statement.