The following is an excerpt from USA Today.
All 63 national parks around the nation are technically open for public use, and have been since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
However, use of some services may be limited or unavailable to the public, like the South Rim Visitor Center at Grand Canyon, until a funding package is passed.
“As part of their orderly shutdown activities, park staff will post signs notifying visitors that only basic or no visitor services, maintenance, or other management activities will be conducted, and emergency services will be limited,” an NPS contingency plan from the U.S. Department of the Interior reads.
In the midst of the shutdown, the National Parks Conservation Association penned a petition calling for Interior Secretary DougBurgum to close all of the national parks to prevent “irreparable damage” brought on by previous shutdowns.
All 63 national parks across the country, including two in U.S. territories, are generally open.
According the DOI’s contingency plan, “park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.” However, there are a couple caveats.
Parks with accessible areas that collect fees under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) will use those funds to provide basic visitor services, i.e. bathroom maintenance and trash collection. However, visitor services for parks without accessible areas won’t be provided.
“If visitor access becomes a safety, health or resource protection issue (weather, road conditions, resource damage, garbage build-up to the extent that it endangers human health or wildlife, etc.), the area must be closed,” the contingency plan reads.
Generally, if an area within a national park normally closes down outside of regular business hours when a shutdown is not in effect, that area will stay closed for the duration of the shutdown, the DOI plan outlines.
For more from USA Today, read here.
