National Parks Left to Rot During Government Shutdown: 'I Hope Congress is Working Hard ... So We Can Have Our Parks Back'
Trevor Hughes
USA TODAY
4:20 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019
A government shutdown could have an impact on everything from your passport application to your trip to a national park. USA TODAY
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. – This federal government shutdown stinks.
Not just in a "my vacation is ruined" way for people who hoped to visit Rocky Mountain National Park but found the roads unplowed and closed to cars, although that's certainly true.
Not just in a "I'm not getting paid" kind of way, even though that's definitely the case for the park's hundreds of rangers, maintenance workers, biologists and other employees.
And not just in a "my tourist-dependent business is suffering" kind of way, although that's also starting to happen.
No, this shutdown stinks for a much more basic reason: While the park's toilets are closed and locked because there's no one to clean them, piles of toilet paper and yellow snow are accumulating behind the buildings.
"We were so pissed," said Hope Turrubiartez, 43, who came to the park with her family on a weeklong vacation from Waco, Texas. "When you have kids, it's a struggle."
Like all other national parks, Rocky Mountain National Park is effectively closed during the partial federal government shutdown, which entered its 13th day Thursday. Some parks are entirely closed, while others, including Rocky, are technically open but unstaffed and unmaintained.
Rocky, the nation's fourth-busiest national park, draws more than 4 million visitors annually. Wednesday, park visitors had to content themselves with walking along the entrance roads or hiking from trailheads that are accessible from outside the main entrance.
"We've managed to have fun," said Cassie Abel, 28, as she pulled her daughter, Brynlee, 6, in a pink sled along the road. Abel and her parents came from Denton, Texas, to spend the holiday in nearby Estes Park, which is heavily dependent on the park's tourist traffic.
The first week of the park shutdown brought little financial impact, said town manager Frank Lancaster, probably because most tourists had already booked their Christmas stays and couldn't cancel. Along the town's main street Wednesday, tourists peered in candy store windows, shopped for T-shirts and rented snowshoes, and there was little sign the nearby park is largely inaccessible.
"But as it stretches out, people will be making decisions about whether to come here or go somewhere else," Lancaster said. The other problem, he said, is that the park's staff isn't being paid.
“A lot of our friends and neighbors aren’t getting paychecks," he said. "They’re not spending money, and they’re holding back.”
Similar scenarios play out at national parks across the country: overflowing toilets at Joshua Tree, traffic jams at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
"We're hearing stories about people who are going into some areas in off-road vehicles, damaging resources," said Bill Wade, former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. "We know that some people will just take advantage of the fact that rangers aren't around and patrolling."
Under federal law, national parks are required to protect the resources they've been entrusted with, and Wade said one could make the argument that the federal government's decision to "soft close" some parks violates the law. Without rangers patrolling, Native American artifacts, wildlife and even wild ginseng are at risk from pickers.
Wednesday, many Rocky visitors said they're frustrated a political fight 1,700 miles away hurts their ability to access what is, after all, their own land.
“It’s pretty rotten. I hope Congress is working hard to come up with a reasonable budget, so we can have our parks back," said Marybeth Lisse, 49, who lives near Lyons, Colorado. Lisse brought her twin teen daughters and two of their friends to the park for a day of sledding, but they were forced to switch locations.
Cassie Abel, 28, of Denton, Texas, pulls her daughter Brynlee, 6, in a sled on a road that would normally be open to cars in Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. Abel's father-in-law, Shane Abel, 63, left, said he's frustrated a government shutdown nearly 2,000 miles away was hindering the family vacation.
"I feel terrible for people who don’t know their way around," said Lisse, who was able to find the four girls a gently sloping – and closed – road on which to sled. The girls pronounced themselves disappointed they couldn't use their normal sledding hill, a former ski area inside the park.
"It's not steep enough here," said Julia Lisse, 13.
"And I got stuck under a fence," added Anna Anderson, 12.
Safety remains a major concern at the open-but-unstaffed parks. Across the country, visitors flock to parks that are free to enter, since no one is working the entrance booths.
"Visitors are still coming, and that need is still there," said Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and a retired 41-year park service employee. "People who are called nonessential still provide essential services. When you have a rescue in the backcountry, it's not just the rangers who are working."
Francis said the lingering park shutdown is an insult to the service's approximately 17,000 employees: "This is not a political issue to them. This is bread-and-butter to them: coming to work, doing their job and being paid for it in a timely way."
Federal employees are usually retroactively paid once Congress agrees on a budget after a shutdown.
Marie MacCord, who works at the Mad Moose furniture store near the park's entrance, said she thinks federal spending should be cut. MacCord said she's frustrated to hear tourists complaining about the park closure when the national debt is so high.
"My question is, what choice do we have? We can't continue in the direction we were headed," she said. "The streets aren't paved with gold. We're in so much debt that we'll never be able to pay back, and so sacrifices have to be made."
Turrubiartez said her family group of six managed to have fun despite the closure, and they're already making plans to come back next year. "We were lucky to get such beautiful views. We were lucky to get that," she said. " We were so disappointed – who doesn’t want to get into Rocky Mountain National Park and see the mountains?"
USA TODAY
4:20 p.m. ET Jan. 3, 2019
A government shutdown could have an impact on everything from your passport application to your trip to a national park. USA TODAY
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. – This federal government shutdown stinks.
Not just in a "my vacation is ruined" way for people who hoped to visit Rocky Mountain National Park but found the roads unplowed and closed to cars, although that's certainly true.
Not just in a "I'm not getting paid" kind of way, even though that's definitely the case for the park's hundreds of rangers, maintenance workers, biologists and other employees.
And not just in a "my tourist-dependent business is suffering" kind of way, although that's also starting to happen.
No, this shutdown stinks for a much more basic reason: While the park's toilets are closed and locked because there's no one to clean them, piles of toilet paper and yellow snow are accumulating behind the buildings.
"We were so pissed," said Hope Turrubiartez, 43, who came to the park with her family on a weeklong vacation from Waco, Texas. "When you have kids, it's a struggle."
Like all other national parks, Rocky Mountain National Park is effectively closed during the partial federal government shutdown, which entered its 13th day Thursday. Some parks are entirely closed, while others, including Rocky, are technically open but unstaffed and unmaintained.
Rocky, the nation's fourth-busiest national park, draws more than 4 million visitors annually. Wednesday, park visitors had to content themselves with walking along the entrance roads or hiking from trailheads that are accessible from outside the main entrance.
"We've managed to have fun," said Cassie Abel, 28, as she pulled her daughter, Brynlee, 6, in a pink sled along the road. Abel and her parents came from Denton, Texas, to spend the holiday in nearby Estes Park, which is heavily dependent on the park's tourist traffic.
The first week of the park shutdown brought little financial impact, said town manager Frank Lancaster, probably because most tourists had already booked their Christmas stays and couldn't cancel. Along the town's main street Wednesday, tourists peered in candy store windows, shopped for T-shirts and rented snowshoes, and there was little sign the nearby park is largely inaccessible.
"But as it stretches out, people will be making decisions about whether to come here or go somewhere else," Lancaster said. The other problem, he said, is that the park's staff isn't being paid.
“A lot of our friends and neighbors aren’t getting paychecks," he said. "They’re not spending money, and they’re holding back.”
Similar scenarios play out at national parks across the country: overflowing toilets at Joshua Tree, traffic jams at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
"We're hearing stories about people who are going into some areas in off-road vehicles, damaging resources," said Bill Wade, former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. "We know that some people will just take advantage of the fact that rangers aren't around and patrolling."
Under federal law, national parks are required to protect the resources they've been entrusted with, and Wade said one could make the argument that the federal government's decision to "soft close" some parks violates the law. Without rangers patrolling, Native American artifacts, wildlife and even wild ginseng are at risk from pickers.
Wednesday, many Rocky visitors said they're frustrated a political fight 1,700 miles away hurts their ability to access what is, after all, their own land.
“It’s pretty rotten. I hope Congress is working hard to come up with a reasonable budget, so we can have our parks back," said Marybeth Lisse, 49, who lives near Lyons, Colorado. Lisse brought her twin teen daughters and two of their friends to the park for a day of sledding, but they were forced to switch locations.
Cassie Abel, 28, of Denton, Texas, pulls her daughter Brynlee, 6, in a sled on a road that would normally be open to cars in Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. Abel's father-in-law, Shane Abel, 63, left, said he's frustrated a government shutdown nearly 2,000 miles away was hindering the family vacation.
"I feel terrible for people who don’t know their way around," said Lisse, who was able to find the four girls a gently sloping – and closed – road on which to sled. The girls pronounced themselves disappointed they couldn't use their normal sledding hill, a former ski area inside the park.
"It's not steep enough here," said Julia Lisse, 13.
"And I got stuck under a fence," added Anna Anderson, 12.
Safety remains a major concern at the open-but-unstaffed parks. Across the country, visitors flock to parks that are free to enter, since no one is working the entrance booths.
"Visitors are still coming, and that need is still there," said Phil Francis, chairman of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and a retired 41-year park service employee. "People who are called nonessential still provide essential services. When you have a rescue in the backcountry, it's not just the rangers who are working."
Francis said the lingering park shutdown is an insult to the service's approximately 17,000 employees: "This is not a political issue to them. This is bread-and-butter to them: coming to work, doing their job and being paid for it in a timely way."
Federal employees are usually retroactively paid once Congress agrees on a budget after a shutdown.
Marie MacCord, who works at the Mad Moose furniture store near the park's entrance, said she thinks federal spending should be cut. MacCord said she's frustrated to hear tourists complaining about the park closure when the national debt is so high.
"My question is, what choice do we have? We can't continue in the direction we were headed," she said. "The streets aren't paved with gold. We're in so much debt that we'll never be able to pay back, and so sacrifices have to be made."
Turrubiartez said her family group of six managed to have fun despite the closure, and they're already making plans to come back next year. "We were lucky to get such beautiful views. We were lucky to get that," she said. " We were so disappointed – who doesn’t want to get into Rocky Mountain National Park and see the mountains?"
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