Tourists neglect the Grand Canyon in Sunrise on February 22, 2025 in Grand Canyon, Arizona.
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Robert F. Bukaty / AP
While the congress remains at an impasse on an agreement to finance government operations, several sites in the National Park Service (NPS) have stopped their operations.
Throughout the country, the parks were forced to close, to operate under a reduction in staff or to rely on external donations to keep the lights on as the stop extends in its fourth day.
The absence of a unified plan in all parks and sparse details described by official government resources has aroused confusion as to the places that the parks can visit or if the closure has caused sites to temporarily close their services.
“National parks remain as accessible as possible when closing the federal government,” said an opinion on the NPS website.
“However, certain services can be limited or unavailable,” he continues, a link directing readers to a site with emergency plans describing how the funds would be appropriate when closing.
An emergency plan for the NPS indicates that the park roads, the shares and the trails “will generally remain accessible to visitors” for the duration of the closure, but other services such as regular road and trails updates would not be provided.
“As part of their ordered closing activities, the park staff will display panels indicating visitors whether only the basic services or no visitors, maintenance or other management activities will be carried out and that emergency services will be limited,” according to the plan.
In some places in the park which collect fees, the memo stipulates that the basic services can be provided such as those which maintain the toilets, collect the garbage and the maintenance of the roads.
But in certain locations of the closed parks, the services will be stripped of the bones, in particular the collection of waste, the toilets, the maintenance of the roads or the gateway or the information on the visitors.
NPR contacted the NPS on Saturday to comment but did not receive an answer.
States intervene and donations for a certain relief
Several states have taken it in their hands to ensure that their parks remain open during the federal financing dungeon, either funding the sites themselves directly, or collecting third-party rescue to help keep the doors open.
According to the national traveler of parks, parks in states such as Virginia-Western, Utah and Hawaii, have managed to guarantee funds and donations necessary to maintain operations temporarily rolling.
Visitors from other states have not been so lucky.
Kathy Ten Eyck flew from Utica, New York to the New Mexico to visit the sparkling dunes of the Blancs Sables National Park. Instead, she met a closure notice.
“I couldn’t wait – I couldn’t wait – get here,” said Ten Eyck. “We stopped at (Pistachioland) in the street there, and that’s where we heard that he was closed.”
Kathy Theriot also had a broken heart outside the New Mexico park. She had led her children more than five hours from their home to Taos and hoped that they could discover the white sands of which she remembered her childhood.
“I have been waiting for 10 years to show my children white sand and the day we come is closed, which is very disappointing,” said Theriot.
“But it’s really, really sad that we arrived on the side of the road to enjoy a part of our country because our elected officials cannot get along.”
Vandalism and security problems
In this file of January 10, 2019, people visit Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave desert in southern California.
Jae C. Hong / AP
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Jae C. Hong / AP
Concerns have also been raised as to the security and the responsibility of keeping the parks open without having a solid number of employees available to carry out critical services.
Some of the famous Texas national parks, such as Big Bend and Padre I Island National Seashore, will remain open during this period, but may have limited staff, according to Texas Public Radio (TPR).
A previous judgment of the government, reported the TPR, saw an old rock in Big Bend vandalized in the middle of the lack of staff.
These concerns have led some defenders of the park to recommend all parks with a reduction in force until federal funding is sorted.
“Keeping our national parks open after Trump and the Republicans forced a government closure is stupid, short -sighted and incredibly dangerous,” said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.
“We have seen the irreparable damage that can occur when our parks have underestimated. Vandalism, waste and human waste will tarnish natural treasures that are the desire of the world. But apparently, nothing says” to make America again “like transforming Yosemite into a giant toilet.”
During the last closure of the government, which began in December 2018 in the previous administration of Trump and lasted a record of 35 days, several of the American beloved national parks reported significant damage, including Joshua Tree National Park in California, which saw the cut trees and new roads was illegally dug.
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) also asked that the parks be closed, citing problems spent during government closings that led to vandalism, sanitation problems and ecological damage.
“The government has closed its doors, and the administration again puts our national parks and our visitors in danger, effectively leading the staff to the park to open the doors and move away,” said the president and chief executive officer of NPCA, Theresa Pierno, in a statement. “It’s not just irresponsible, it’s dangerous.”
Ava Pukatch of NPR contributed to this report.
