National Parks Partially Open During Government Shutdown: What to Know

The National Park Service’s 474 national monuments, memorials, and parks remain reliant on skeleton crews in the wake of the federal government shutdown. Operational capacity of each site’s staff was reduced to an absolute minimum after thousands of employees were furloughed. Information centers remained shuttered, the issuing of permits was suspended, and even trash pickup and restroom maintenance were put on hold. In a published contingency plan in case of a government shutdown, the National Park Service outlined how it intended to optimize whatever funds it had left to push through what it called a lapse in appropriations to ensure that protection of wildlife and property continues....