National parks collectively could lose nearly a million visitors daily during a shutdown, and gateway communities could lose as much as $70 million, the conservation association said.Īrizona Lottery funds would help keep the Grand Canyon park open at a basic level, Hobbs has said.Īrizona paid about $64,000 a week during the 35-day shutdown to cover restroom cleaning, trash removal and snow plowing at Grand Canyon. They cited the economic benefits to their states and the small communities that depend on tourism.

Spencer Cox said they will tap state funds to ensure visitors can still enjoy the dramatic depths of the Grand Canyon and the soaring red cliffs of Zion, among other parks. The Trump administration did so in 20 in violation of appropriations laws, the congressional watchdog said.ĭemocratic Arizona Gov. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday to keep the parks open with previously collected fees. Some tourists driving off-road damaged the fragile ecosystem. The nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association doesn’t oppose such agreements but noted that keeping sites open during a shutdown without sufficient staff and other resources can be be disastrous.įor example, trash cans and portable toilets overflowed at Joshua Tree National Park during a shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019 that lasted 35 days. The director of the National Park Service can enter into non-reimbursable arrangements with state, tribal or local governments, or third parties for donations to fund park operations, the department said. “The public will be encouraged not to visit sites during the period of lapse in appropriations out of consideration for protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as visitor safety,” the Interior Department said in a statement. Places like the National Mall will stay open, but there are no guarantees that restrooms or trash will be maintained.Ībout 13,000 of the 19,000 National Park Service workers are expected to be furloughed, the agency said in a contingency plan posted online Friday. Generally, if a site is closed or locked during non-business hours, it will remain that way, Interior officials said. Whether tourists can access other national parks will depend on size, location and other factors. The governors of Arizona and Utah vowed to keep some of the most iconic parks, including Grand Canyon and Zion, open with state funding.

This time around, the majority of more than 420 national park units will be off-limits to the public starting Monday, Interior officials said.

The stance is a reversal from five years ago, when the Trump administration kept some parks open in a move that was lambasted as illegal by the Government Accountability Office, the congressional watchdog. PHOENIX (AP) - Entrances to national parks will be blocked and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed if Congress doesn’t reach a budget agreement this weekend, the Department of Interior said Friday.

Inslee press conference 2013 budget