Why Are National Parks Still Open? Nobody Knows.

Think politics in Washington couldn’t get more absurd? Well, how’s this for a doozy: no one seems to actually know why the national parks are open right now or who is responsible for the decision to keep them open. And that’s after seven people have reportedly died in them during the shutdown.

To recap, counter to previous practice, most of the big-name parks have been kept open during the current federal government shutdown. But 80 percent of park service employees have been furloughed, leaving our natural treasures protected by a skeleton crew of park police and other first responders. No one is collecting entry fees, no one is guiding tourists, no one is clearing snow or plowing the roads, and no one is pumping out pit toilets, which have reportedly begun overflowing. Trash is being cleared only by a few volunteer organizations, in only a few popular locations.

Yosemite National Park is just one example of how bad things are right now. That park is reportedly experiencing visitation levels that are maxing out the park’s capacity, even while only 50 of the usual 800-plus staff are on-site. There’s human poop everywhere and a man died at Nevada Fall on Christmas day, reportedly after allowing his dog off-leash in an area where pets are banned.

The lack of staff isn’t just dangerous for visitors; it’s harming the parks themselves, too. While there is no categorical account of damages yet (since there’s no one to collect that data right now), the former director of the National Park Service Jon Jarvis detailed some likely issues to me over the phone. Overflowing sewage and indiscriminate human pooping could pollute fresh water sources for years. Wildlife is being habituated to consume human trash—something rangers go to great lengths to prevent, when they’re on the clock. Fragile habitats are being destroyed. Precious artifacts are being vandalized and looted. Maintenance that’s being missed right now is likely to compound costs once the shutdown is over. Jarvis uses Yellowstone National Park as an example. If snow isn’t being cleared from roofs there, it could build up to the point where those roofs collapse, potentially destroying the buildings, and their contents. “This is simply a disaster,” he says.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2380401/why-are-national-parks-still-open-nobody-knows?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WYM-01082019&utm_content=WYM-01082019+CID_101f2d4ce1a876cf65b1c295b85bd700&utm_source=campaignmonitor%20outsidemagazine&utm_term=seven%20people%20have%20died