Shutdown Rundown

This fall, Congress failed to pass a spending bill for the government, ushering in the longest shutdown in history. Park Service employees, like millions of other federal workers across the country, were furloughed or expected to work without pay. Given the inadequate staffing, NPCA exhorted Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to close parks for the duration of the shutdown to protect natural and cultural resources and avoid putting visitors at risk. Instead, Secretary Burgum pushed parks to remain as accessible as possible. Information about which sites, facilities and offerings were open or available was scant, contributing to visitor confusion, as many news outlets reported. With limited access to Park Service personnel, NPCA staff documented park impacts as best they could. Here’s what they discovered.

Some states, localities and associations pitched in hundreds of thousands of dollars — with no guarantee of repayment — in an unsustainable bid to keep visitor centers open and staffed at parks such as New River Gorge and Great Smoky Mountains. Other parks, including Rocky Mountain and Glacier, dipped into their pot of fee dollars, an understandable move, but one that advocates argue is illegal as the legislation that allows for parks to collect fees dictates that those dollars be used for projects that enhance the visitor experience — not for normal park operations. “The fee fund is not supposed to be a rainy-day piggy bank for the Park Service,” NPCA’s Kyle Hart explained in The Roanoke Times.

With only a skeleton crew at most parks, ranger visibility was minimal, furthering concerns over resource damage and reckless visitor behavior. “It felt like you showed up to school and none of the teachers were there,” NPCA’s Mark Rose told The Guardian, regarding his trip to Yosemite. Journalists reported people BASE jumping off El Capitan, flying drones and camping without permits, all prohibited activities. According to firsthand reports from NPCA staff, visitors ignored trail closure signs at Rocky Mountain, jumped barricades at Bandelier and parked illegally along the Blue Ridge Parkway. In mid-October, a portion of a stone wall at Gettysburg National Military Park was mysteriously toppled and later graffitied. The lack of park personnel also halted routine maintenance, impeded resource monitoring, stalled conservation efforts, and resulted in the cancellation of volunteer, youth and community events. “The shutdown is leaving national parks without the experts needed to protect fragile ecosystems, interpret American history and serve the public,” NPCA’s Kyle Groetzinger told Business Insider.

Against this backdrop swirled rumors and fears of another mass termination of federal staff. While a judge issued a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction to bar the firing of certain union-represented employees during the shutdown, files submitted as part of the court proceedings indicated that hundreds of Park Service employees were in the crosshairs. 

“These court filings offer a glimpse of what’s ahead,” said NPCA President and CEO Theresa Pierno. “Any additional cuts to the Park Service will be devastating.”