Sunday, 29 March 2020

Re: [cobirds] Interpretation of state-wide Public Health Order

Hi everyone,

Good points of clarification to be sure, but I would advise everyone to be conservative here.  The farther away you go the greater the odds are you'll need to have an interaction that could possibly involve transfer (stopping for gas, visiting a restroom, going into a grocery store, etc.).   This may appear to be miniscule, but it is exactly these types of accumulating interactions that promote spread.  Local birding can remove the majority of these situations.

Additionally I'd like to put a focus on the obvious here.  Just because an event is permissible doesn't mean we should consider it not harmful.   We should all consider minimizing any travel outside right now to reduce spread.  Birding is certainly a low risk activity, but given the increased numbers of people going outside to areas that are commonly birded it is not a no risk activity.

I know that this is disappointing to read and perhaps even maddening to some, but as a health care professional I have seen how small behaviors and tiny changes can have huge positive/negative impacts on a larger scale.  Most of us have fabulous locations within 10-15 mins of our homes and  I am certain that most of us wouldn't face extreme hardship by cutting back on a couple excursions each week.   

Regards,

Mark Minner-Lee
Erie, CO

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 29, 2020, at 5:45 AM, Gary Brower <grb4914@gmail.com> wrote:

Read all the way through the article.  It is aimed at DENVER residents.  Here's the appropriate sentence (from the article, anyway)— the next-to-last "paragraph":

You might be thinking, "Well hold on a second, Gov. Jared Polis said hiking was fine!" Unfortunately for Denver residents, the stricter restrictions are what apply, so in this particular case, the city and county order trumps the statewide order.

The State's order (under "Definitions") reads:

3. Engaging in outdoor activity, such as, by way of example and without limitation,
walking, hiking, nordic skiing, snowshoeing, biking or running. For purposes of
outdoor activity, State parks will remain open to the public to engage in walking,
hiking, biking, running, and similar outdoor activities but all playgrounds, picnic
areas, other similar areas conducive to public gathering, and attended areas shall
be closed. Additionally, the permitted outdoor activities in this PHO do not
include activities that would violate the Social Distancing Requirements

If there is another, more authoritative, ruling (than "TheKnow"), I'll be welcome to hear/read it.  In the meantime, I'll stick with Polis' order, not Hancock's. But, the state's order replaces both Boulder County's, as well as the Ti-County Health Department's orders.

Gary Brower
Unincorporated Arapahoe County (thankfully!)



On Mar 28, 2020, at 11:36 PM, Thomas Heinrich <teheinrich@gmail.com> wrote:

Just happened to find this relevant article on the Denver Post website:


Thomas Heinrich
Boulder, CO

On Sat, Mar 28, 2020 at 10:55 PM Susan Rosine <u5b2mtdna@gmail.com> wrote:
I was not aware of that restriction. I thought you could travel anywhere to exercise, which includes birding. I thought that's why the state parks were still open.
So people in the mountains can't go to the plains, and vice versa? Like how far away from your town can you go? I've seen nothing about that.
I stay sooooooo far away from people all the time, and I have left the city limits.
Susan Rosine
Brighton

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