With Congress still deadlocked ahead of next week’s government shutdown deadline, an old debate could make a reprise: Should national parks be closed during a lapse in government funding or left open to the public?
Forty former superintendents sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Friday arguing that park units should be closed if Congress fails to clinch a deal by Wednesday, when the current funding cycle sunsets. They argue — as some park advocates have in the past — that campgrounds, monuments and facilities like bathrooms left open with little or no staff will lead to vandalism, trash pileups and safety risks for visitors.
“It’s dangerous,” said Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Protect America National Parks, in a statement. “We don’t leave museums open without curators, or airports without air traffic controllers and we should not leave our National Parks open without NPS employees.”
National parks often become a flashpoint during government shutdowns, visible examples of what is lost when funding isn’t provided.
