House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman on Wednesday warned that the nation’s national parks may have to shutter if the government shutdown drags on for too long.
The Trump administration has so far kept national parks mostly open, dipping into recreation fees to pay small crews of staff. According to Westerman, however, the administration won’t be able to keep that up for long.
“This can’t continue indefinitely,” the Arkansas Republican said, speaking from the House Republican leadership’s daily press conference, where he was a guest of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“Despite all the extraordinary efforts being made, at some point without funding the public lands will not be accessible to the public,” Westerman said. “The longer this unnecessary shutdown lasts, the more negative consequences that we’ll start to see.”
