What National Park Visitors Are Doing to Help During the Shutdown Isn't Making Officials Happy

As the American government sits in a dithering stalemate over its money books, thousands of people find it hard to digest that they have been restricted from doing so many things they love to do. Enjoy their national park trip, for instance. Instead of gearing up with bags of delicious snacks, selfie sticks, and sunscreen bottles, national park tourists, these days, are stepping out of their homes with gloves, grabbers, and plastic bags. As the headstrong government refuses to shell out its piddling funds, national parks are forced to furlough their employees, which seems to be jostling the visitors to double up as volunteers, as also reported by The Travel.

National parks, according to the outlet, are witnessing as much as a revenue loss of $1 million per day. The shutdown, which is classified as being more of a “philosophical” nature, has prompted national parks to cut the salaries of their workers, even terminating as many as 64% of their employees. This staffing shortage is subtly shifting the load on the park visitors. This fear originates from the experience people had with the earlier shutdowns. Take the shutdown that happened between 2018 and 2019, lasting 35 days. In the aftermath of this shutdown, Joshua Tree National Park witnessed brutal vandalism with rock structures razed, the trees flattened, and the property littered. Prehistoric petroglyphs were defaced, as NPCA recalls in an Instagram post.

Artifacts were stolen from historic battlefields, off-road use of vehicles largely affected the wildlife habitats, and visitors repeatedly encountered safety hazards. With all this shadow lingering in the history, park officials had no choice but to shut down the parks amidst this shutdown. “We know what happened last time. Park staff were forced to leave parks open and unprotected, and the impacts were disastrous. If the federal government shuts down, unfortunately, our parks should, too,” confessed Theresa Pierno, NPCA’s President and CEO.

Congresswoman Emily Randall visited a park near Lake Cushner that was recently charred by the Bear Gulch Fire. She too urged the visitors to have patience until the park is restored, as this shutdown is already adding to the stress of underpaid federal workers involved in the restoration. Acadia National Park also appealed to the government to end the shutdown. NP workers keep nature safe from people and people safe from nature. But as the government remains pertinacious and President Donald Trump refuses to arrive at a negotiation, these workers are sinking into depression as their salaries are being cut. Many are being laid off altogether.

The shutdown doesn’t permit the parks to allow visitors to pose as volunteers. “All volunteer activities are suspended until further notice. […] Acting in an official volunteer capacity during the lapse may result in punitive action.” Reddit user u/amt2america received this message in an email after they signed up as a volunteer for the NPS. According to the Reference Manual for Volunteers in Parks, without “official acceptance, adherence to specific protocols, and often background checks,” national parks may have to bear legal repercussions for allowing non-workers to participate in volunteering activities. “We are in this fight until we win this fight,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, N.Y. House Minority Leader, stated in a recording by The Wall Street Journal.

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