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National Parks Face Years of Damage From Government Shutdown (nationalgeographic.com)

When the government eventually reopens, park experts warn reversing damage won't be as easy as throwing out the trash. From a report: National parks are America's public lands, but right now they're America's trashcans. That's because the U.S. federal government, embattled over funding for a border wall, has shut down, leaving national parks open and largely unattended. Since the shutdown began, brimming trashcans, overflowing toilets, and trespassing has been reported at many parks locations. "Never before have I seen the federal government tempt fate in national parks the way we are today," says Diane Regas, president of the Trust for Public Land. "It's not about what has happened already. It's about what could happen if you don't have the appropriate staffing."

According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), staffing varies by park, but some 16,000 parks service employees are furloughed, leaving a small number active for policing and security. The government shut down three times in 2018, but only three days last January and less than a day that following February. As of Friday, the government had been partially shut down for 13 days.
Further reading: Government Shutdown is Putting a Damper on Science in Seattle and Elsewhere.

10 of 654 comments (clear)

  1. Not all the parks... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 5, Informative

    The historic tower in the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC is a national landmark. It's under the control of the park service. There are still National Park Rangers there keeping the tower open. Total coincidence they found money to do that, based no doubt on a dispassionate assessment of needs.

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  2. Re:What a shithole country! by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2, Informative

    Let's see Bollywood or China make something on the order of "Avengers: Endgame". USA still dominates world culture in a big way.

  3. Re:What a shithole country! by bickerdyke · · Score: 1, Informative

    You are assuming that they want to produce some unwatchable garbage. But then - "Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon" came pretty close.

    My next question would be: what was the last chinese or indian movie you saw?

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  4. Illegal immigrants hurt parks more without wall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Illegal immigrants hurt parks more without wall. Build the wall!

  5. Re:humans by asylumx · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... in trash cans which aren't being emptied, because the people who are normally paid to empty them aren't being paid to empty them, so they are overflowing and trash is blowing around.

  6. Re:Pretty easy fix: by Nidi62 · · Score: 2, Informative

    And Obama said that under Obamacare you could keep your doctor.

    And Obamacare was patterned after the healthcare legislation signed into law in Massachusetts by that perennial liberal Mitt Romney.

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  7. Re:humans by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Informative

    We used to always preach "you pack it in, you pack it out" and that applied to local parks and beaches as well. I guess asking people to carry their trash back out with them is simply too much...

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  8. Re:It figures, Oh my God, Closed Government by zeoslap · · Score: 4, Informative

    Because previously the parks locked the gates during shutdowns. They left them open to avoid the bad image of locked gates, this is the side effect of that stupid decision.

  9. Re:It figures, Oh my God, Closed Government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    During those earlier shutdowns, entry to the parks was prohibited. This time, though no services are provided, entry has been/was allowed and the results have been often superficial (overflowing toilets, etc.) but also significant (off-road driving, looters with metal detectors scavenging historical battlefields, etc.) The long-term effects that distinguish this shutdown from the previous are more likely the latter than the former.

  10. Re:Turn national park management over to the state by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative

    Oklahoma is the epitome of what's wrong with the argument. They are one of the states that wants more control of the national park lands in their state. Yet they are so badly managed that they cannot afford their current state parks.

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