States Scramble To Keep National Parks Open

A number of parks are digging into their own treasuries to keep their federal properties, including national parks, open and maintained during the partial government shutdown, according to reports. The shutdown, which began on Saturday, affected national parks unevenly, some still accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some operating with money from states or charitable groups and others locked off.

According to the New York Times, the strategies could collectively cost states, as well as any private companies that get involved, “more than $590,000 a week, and likely far more.”

Although many parts of the park network were closed or mostly unstaffed, the National Park Service said Monday that it had reached more than 40 agreements with states, concessionaires and partner groups “to provide various visitor services at a number of national parks.”

Among major parks and monuments affected, New York is spending $65,000 a day to keep the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island open to tourists as it did when the federal government shutdown in 2013 and 2018.

Arizona and Utah officials implemented plans to keep open Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks and provide services such as public restrooms, shuttles and trash collection. Concession operations remained open, and Utah’s money for parks in that state included visitor centers.

In California, workers for the State Department of Parks and Recreation are cleaning restrooms and removing trash at Redwood National and State Parks.

The shutdown is affecting nine of the 15 Cabinet-level departments, including Interior, which runs national parks, and Agriculture, which runs national forests. About 16,000 National Park Service employees — 80 percent of the agency’s workforce — are being furloughed. Reports indicate that 800,000 government employees were furloughed.