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With the Dec. 21, partial shutdown of the federal government the Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO) has been closed until the impasse is resolved. Throughout the western states, the impact of the National Parks closures and loss of staff is creating ripple effects that might be felt for years to come.
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While the Grand Canyon National Park remains open, PEFO joined nearly a third of the national park sites that were completely closed.
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According to Kevin Dahl, senior program manager with National Parks Conservation Association, a small portion of PEFO remains open at the north entrance of the park, which is allowing access to the restaurant, gas and gift shop. All the shops on the south entrance were forced to close and there is no access into the park at this time.
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“This means the staff isn’t working. While there are some park rangers still working because protecting PEFO resources are critical, no one is getting a paycheck,” shared Dahl. “I can’t imagine what people are going through not knowing when they will get back to work or how they will pay the bills.”
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Dahl continued, “We hope that the staff who are furloughed and the staff that are working will get the back pay. Not knowing when the work will start is really scary.”
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When asked what can be done Dahl said that people need to contact their congressional representatives and demand that this be resolved.
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“Problems are happening at the Grand Canyon,” said Dahl. “When it is fully staffed, visitors are told the rules and given maps, there are rangers that help guide and protect not only the park but the visitors as well. Without the rangers, people are taking dogs into areas, which create real problems for wildlife. Drones are being flown in this no-drone zone, where drones are prohibited because they harass wildlife and disturb the experience of other visitors. I think it is good that PEFO is closed because there are so many valuable resources that would be at risk.”
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Beyond the visible impacts of the shutdown, that include the garbage piling up and locked restrooms causing unfortunate consequences, the invisible ones will potentially be felt for years into the future.
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For PEFO those invisible impacts include the ongoing flow of science and research that is a constant part of the park process as well as the financial loss of park revenues and projects being put on hold.
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“If data is not collected because the scientists, the professors and the students cannot access the equipment and their study sites, then there will be holes in the data,” Dahl said. “Plus this is costing us a lot of money. It is estimated that all the National Park sites bring in $400,000 a day in revenue, 80 percent of which is used for the budget of the park where it is collected. All that revenue cannot be recovered once the government reopens the parks. Contractors and park partners will have to decide if they can keep paying their employees when projects are put on hold and inside-the-park stores are closed due to the shutdown.”
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To reach the offices of U.S. senators Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R) or Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D), call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
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