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All parks remain open! Madison Parks is working closely with Public Health Madison & Dane County as we move forward in a different way. The health and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers and park users are our top priority during this rapidly evolving health concern of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As you have likely heard, most City buildings are now closed to the public and you can learn more on the City’s COVID-19 website. For Madison Parks this includes Warner Park Community Recreation Center, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Forest Hill Cemetery and Parks administrative offices located in the City/County Building and Goodman Maintenance Facility are closed. Many services are available online and our staff continues to be available by phone and email.

All Madison Parks organized and sponsored events scheduled through April 30 are canceled, postponed or rescheduled. This includes all Bird & Nature Outings, Dog Park Cleanup Day, the Earth Day Challenge and the Bird & Nature Festival.

We do not take this decision lightly and it is mandated by the order of Governor Tony Evers and Public Health Madison & Dane County on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) health crisis. Due to historic turnouts, we do not feel confident that we can adequately limit gatherings to 10 or fewer people, as required by the new mandate. The health and safety of our community of visitors, staff, and volunteers—as well as our community at large—remains our top priority. For this reason, we are canceling, postponing or rescheduling when possible the following events:

EVENT (original date) and STATUS
Bird & Nature Outings: all group led outings, at all locations canceled through April 30
Dog Park Cleanup Day (Saturday, April 4): postponed, future date to be determined
Earth Day Challenge (Saturday, April 25): postponed, future date to be determined
Bird & Nature Festival (Sunday, April 26): rescheduled for Sunday, June 28

WAYS TO HELP and STAY CONNECTED TO NATURE
In the coming weeks, it will be more important than ever to stay connected with nature. On the Bird & Nature Outing website, we will provide nature-based educational topics as a resource for self-guided walks. While our planned group cleanup events – Dog Park Cleanup and Earth Day Challenge are postponed with a future date to be determined, volunteers may still help spring-clean your parks as an individual. You may consider bringing gloves and a trash bag for your next visit and pick up any trash you see along the trails and in the park. If you do, please let us know by emailing parksvolunteer@cityofmadison.com to let us know where and when. You can also snap a photo of your work and tag us on Facebook or Instagram using #madisonparks.

View updates and many online services on the Madison Parks website. View all impacts to City service on the City’s COVID-19 website.

Contacts


Agency: 
Parks