Why is the Federal Government posting armed guards at National Park to deny entrance? Is preventing public enjoyment of the parks during a shutdown really an essential government function?
Legal problems among other concerns.
My son is signed up for the Red Drum Fishing Tournament late October on Hatteras Island. Guess what. National seashore. Closed.
It is essential to reduce damage, theft and liability risk from parks with reduced staff.
Why they giving up concessioner revenue, though? Concessioners make ridiculous amounts of money—about five to ten times what they could make operating comparable facilities in a metropolitan area. And the government gets a percentage of that, albeit a surprisingly small one. Why doesn’t the DOI maintain a skeleton crew of law enforcement and maintenance personnel, and allow visitors to use the private facilities that are available in the NPS system?
Why isn’t the fact that the Federal Government can and does own and control vast tracts of natural wilderness discussed more often? Why do they “need” it? Why are places that are thousands, if not millions, of years old and considered “national” or even “international” treasures able to be cordoned off and people forced to turn back at gunpoint?
When I lived in Utah, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) was a hot-button topic that was sure to come up at least once a week because the Feds own some insane percentage of the entire state, like 75% or so - a problem common in the Western states as a whole. I say if the government is running short on funds, sell some of that land. And no, it’s not all pristine awe-inspiring wonder - much of it is pretty mediocre (or worse).
Because, and I’m not sure if you realize this, but those places are millions of years old and considered national or even international treasures. What’s so difficult about this?
Since this is in part a political issue, let’s move it over to GD.
Colibri
General Questions Modertor
So just because a few NPS guides aren’t getting paid, why should that affect our ability to visit and enjoy these places?
And please, don’t go dragging out statistics about how many are actually on furlough, I knew it’s more than a few, but it’s not like they’re needed to roll out the Grand Canyon every morning, or stoke the fires under Old Faithful - I’m pretty sure the parks are still there and running along smoothly as Nature intended. So open the gates and let people in.
This is overdue, but cite? Where exactly is this happening, and in what circumstances?
You’d make a pretty crappy real estate agent.
“The previous owners of this house are only selling because they’re short on cash. So their willing to take pretty much anything. Also they understand the house is really, really shitty. So, what’s your offer?”
News story on NPR, about a guy who’d saved up, took his kid out of school, and went down to Lee’s Ferry, to go boating down the Colorado. The gate is closed, and there were guards turning people back.
To address the OP, the answer is for safety, both that of the visitors and that of the park facilities. Oh, and the landscape itself! This would be the worst possible time for someone to get lost on a trail, fall off a cliff, or start a fire. Or decide to spray-paint a logo on a cliff face.
To keep it from all being destroyed.
I have a big camping trip planned with my kids next week at the Grand Canyon. They have the week off of school for Fall Break, and we’ve really been looking forward to this. We’ve live in Arizona for about 12 years, but like so many locals, you often don’t go to see the tourist attractions of your own area. So we planned to camp out and experience the Grand Canyon in all its glory.
Oy vey! How likely is it that this government shutdown will be all over by next Monday?
No, the parks are not running as Nature intended. . Mother Nature doesn’t build parks.That’s the government’s job.( Mother Nature creates, well, …nature–and then leaves it wild, and inaccessible to most of the population, who want to visit a park.)
A major National Park is basically a full-scale city, built to handle 4 million people. They have paved roads, rest rooms ,hotels, gas stations, water pipelines, electric lines, sewage treatment plants. Some of them even have their own court system,with judges and jail cells.
When you pay a few bucks at the entrance gate to Yosemite, your getting a lot more than $5 worth of services. There’s a huge infrastructure making it possible for you to enjoy your visit.
And it totally sucks that the Government closes them for no good reason. They know damn well that the budget will be approved within the next few days. Even if, say, the Dept of Interior cuts the budgets for the Park by 10%, Yellowstone will have to lay off some employees or whatever–but not today. The management will have to hold meetings to decide what to cut, write new contracts, etc…And in the meantime, they could still keep functioning if they wanted to.
No, it belongs to everyone, therefore, the government
The NPS website is down too… is that for it’s protection?
As are many government websites. Short answer, they would rather have one standard boilerplate response than have to check what several hundred different websites are posting. Also, there is no one in the office to respond to queries that come in on the website, so this eliminates that issue.
As your friendly, currently doing repairs around my home National Park ranger, here is the deal. The National Park Service is charged with protecting, preserving and interpreting the National Parks. That charge, as well as the designation of most National Parks (putting aside National Monuments for a moment) comes from Congress. So when they pull the plug on funding, the gates get locked because that is most effective way to protect and preserve the resources when no staff is around. A huge portion of the budget goes to preservation and restoration purposes repairing the damage of jackasses who don’t get it.
If the gates were open right now with only about 12% of the staff still working, I can assure you that the battlefield sites would be packed with people with metal detectors and shovels taking away your heritage. And others would be hacking more convenient trails through sensitive areas, giving no thought to the fact that trails are often sited specifically to avoid erosion damage to the cool things you are coming out to see.
As for concession revenue, it does help but it is a very small percentage of the NPS budget. And many parks do not have concessions beyond the small bookstore/gift shop - and trust me, the small cut we get from those is not a difference maker.
There are 401 National Park units across the country, as well as other programs. Each one has been designated by legislation as being nationally significant. We don’t get to pick and choose which ones are “really important.” They are all important - and irreplaceable. So to the Congressmen who are furiously masturbating over World War II vets down at their Memorial, walk back up the hill and do your job so that all of the Memorials can be reopened.
Oh - maybe a few of you could wander past the Korean War Memorial on the way back and lay a wreath. It is the 60th Anniversary of the end of that war. Those poor bastards always get forgotten.
The Foothills Parkway in the Smoky Mountains has a few pull offs where you can park and enjoy the scenery. The Parkway is open, but the pull offs are closed. I understand that rules is rules, but there’s nothing at these things, maybe a garbage can (well, I guess someone has to empty it). We were going to hit a park this weekend for some either front or back country camping, but I’m afraid that everyone who was going to hit the Smokies will flood the other parks.