If Congress can’t agree on how to fund the government, one of the most visible effects in the Mountain West would be “closed” signs and locked gates at parks, monuments and historic sites run by the National Park Service.
According to the Park Service’s contingency plan for situations like this, its 433 units would officially close to the public starting Monday, Dec. 23, as nearly 70% its of staff could be furloughed.
Just a few activities would be uninterrupted, such as law enforcement and emergency response, fire suppression and bathroom and trash maintenance. Sites where the public can still visit because there aren't fences or locked gates would see reduced services. Nonetheless, the agency encourages people not to visit.
“As disappointing as that is,” said John Garder, the senior director of budget and appropriations at the National Parks Conservation Association. “It is inherently a threat to the resources that they come to see, as well as the health and safety of visitors, when parks just don’t have the staff they need to operate.”
But he acknowledges gateway communities can take a hit from the lack of tourism. During the 16-day partial shutdown in 2013, communities neighboring parks lost $414 million from nearly 8 million fewer visits, according to an NPS report.
That’s why states and nonprofits have the option to enter into agreements with the federal government to keep certain parks open. Colorado, Utah and Arizona have allocated state resources to do this during past shutdowns. But they aren't reimbursed for stepping up.
Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah said this week his state is prepared to open park gates should a shutdown proceed.
However, Garder said these stopgaps aren’t long-term solutions, and there are risks to keeping parks open without adequate staffing or resources. During the 2018-2019 shutdown in President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, the NPS kept parks open with barebones operations using revenue from visitation fees. This resulted in trash and waste building up and vandalism.
“The damage to park sites and park resources that we saw was alarming,” Garder said.
It was also potentially an illegal move, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
Advocates have also been pushing lawmakers to include in budget proposals $2.3 billion in disaster relief for park sites, including those in North Carolina hit by Hurricane Helene.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
