{"id":15598,"date":"2020-03-29T12:30:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T17:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=15598"},"modified":"2020-03-29T10:32:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T15:32:51","slug":"prentice-cooper-franklin-state-forests-campsites-closed-to-prevent-spread-of-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2020\/03\/29\/prentice-cooper-franklin-state-forests-campsites-closed-to-prevent-spread-of-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Prentice Cooper, Franklin State Forests Campsites Closed to prevent spread of Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-375496\" title=\"Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tennessee-Department-of-Agriculture.jpg\" alt=\"Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry\" width=\"250\" height=\"71\">Nashville, TN <\/strong>&#8211; The Tennessee Department of Agriculture\u2019s Division of Forestry is closing the campsites at Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests until further notice. A surge in the number of campers is creating safety and health concerns for the public and forestry staff.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_485920\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Campground.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-485920\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-485920\" title=\"Campsites at Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests until further notice.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Campground-480x246.jpg\" alt=\"Campsites at Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests until further notice.\" width=\"480\" height=\"246\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-485920\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Campsites at Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests until further notice.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are suspending overnight camping at these state forests,\u201d State Forester David Arnold said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not take this decision lightly. Our forests provide passive recreational opportunities like hiking and hunting, and are great places to enjoy the natural world. However, large numbers of people are closely congregating at these campsites, and we want to do our part to minimize potential spread of illness,\u201d stated Arnold.<\/p>\n<p>Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests remain open for daytime use. The Division of Forestry joins the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Tennessee Department of Health in encouraging residents to avoid discretionary travel and only visit state forests close to home.<\/p>\n<p>The Tennessee Department of Agriculture urges all visitors to follow CDC guidelines for good health and to preserve the forest.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unlike many parks, state forests do not have restroom facilities or running water. Plan accordingly. Clean hands with liquid sanitizer or wipes with at least 60% alcohol.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t congregate in a group. Maintain distance of at least 6 feet between you and others while walking, hiking, or biking.<\/li>\n<li>Instead of visiting the most popular locations, like Snooper\u2019s Rock at Prentice Cooper State Forest, try a path less traveled.<\/li>\n<li>Bring a suitable trash bag. Take everything out that you bring in to protect the forest and forestry staff.<\/li>\n<li>If you feel sick, do not visit a state forest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;You can access the latest information on Tennessee\u2019s response to COVID-19 online at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tn.gov\/governor\/covid-19.html\" title=\"Tennessee coronavirus website\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.tn.gov\/governor\/covid-19.html<\/a>. Follow @TNAgriculture on Facebook and Twitter for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nashville, TN &#8211; The Tennessee Department of Agriculture\u2019s Division of Forestry is closing the campsites at Prentice Cooper and Franklin State Forests until further notice. A surge in the number of campers is creating safety and health concerns for the public and forestry staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2333,3498,1297,12675,12712,12187,12838,2048,3513,549,284,12734,12837,1632,7335,513,12839],"class_list":["post-15598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-leisure","tag-biking","tag-campsites","tag-cdc","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-david-arnold","tag-franklin-state-forest","tag-hiking","tag-hunting","tag-nashville","tag-nashville-tn","tag-pandemic","tag-prentice-cooper-state-forest","tag-tennessee-department-of-agriculture","tag-tennessee-department-of-agriculture-division-of-forestry","tag-tennessee-department-of-health","tag-u-s-centers-for-disease-control-prevention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15599,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15598\/revisions\/15599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}