Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the US’ iconic national parks on Monday, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors, but with little staff on duty.
“It’s a free-for-all,” Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, said by telephone on Monday, as Yosemite National Park officials announced closings of some minimally supervised campgrounds and public areas within the park that are overwhelmed.
“It’s so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I’ve seen in my four years of living here,” Snider said.
Photo: AP
The 10th day of the partial US government shutdown, which has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees, has left many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running.
Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, US President Donald Trump’s administration was leaving parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs, said John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.
“We’re afraid that we’re going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts,” Garder said. “We’re concerned there’ll be impacts to visitors’ safety.”
“It’s really a nightmare scenario,” Garder added.
Under the park service’s shutdown plan, authorities have to close any area where garbage or other problems become threats to health and safety or to wildlife, spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an e-mail on Monday.
“At the superintendent’s discretion, parks may close grounds/areas with sensitive natural, cultural, historic or archaeological resources vulnerable to destruction, looting or other damage that cannot be adequately protected by the excepted law enforcement staff that remain on duty,” Barnum said.
In the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, some areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks were closed on Monday evening. In Sequoia, home to immense and ancient giant sequoias, General Highway was closed because overflowing trash bins were spreading litter and posed a threat to wildlife and the icy, jammed roadway was seeing up to three-hour delays, according to the National Park Service.
Some are seizing on the shortage of park staffers to off-road illegally and otherwise damage the park, as well as relieving themselves in the open, a park statement said.
Joshua Tree said it would begin closing some campgrounds for all but day use.
At Yosemite, Snider said crowds of visitors were driving into the park to take advantage of free admission, with only a few park rangers working and a limited number of restrooms open.
Visitors were allowing their dogs to run off-leash in an area rich with bears and other wildlife, and scattering bags of garbage along the roads, Snider said.
“You’re looking at Yosemite Falls and in front of you is plastic bottles and trash bags,” he said.
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