WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of former national park supervisors are calling on the Trump administration to close the park. Government closure.
Past closures, where the park remains open, have led to vandalism of iconic symbols, destroying wildlife habitats and endangered visitors, 40 former supervisors said in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgham.
The closure could be even worse as Parks is already nervous due to 24% staff cuts and severe budget cuts, a former park official said in a letter Thursday. a Bulgham’s Secretary’s Order By instructing the park to be kept open, the park has now ignored garbage collection and other routine maintenance tasks, a former official said.
The April directive has been issued Burgham received criticism Elon Musk’s government efficiency is in efforts to reduce federal spending, for national cuts. Bulgham directed the national park to be “open and accessible” despite job cuts, saying his department and the National Park Service are “committed to ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to visit and enjoy the most precious places in our country.”
However, the former supervisor said that parks with understaffed staff are dangerous to the public and the park itself.
“It is reckless to partially open the park during minimal staffing or minimal closures, putting both visitors and the park’s resources at risk,” the former official wrote.
“National parks don’t run themselves. It is the hardworking National Park Service employees who make them safe, clean and accessible,” they said.
“As the custodians of these American treasures, we encourage you to prioritize both conservation and visitor safety and protect the national park during potential closures.
Park staff manage everything from daily maintenance of buildings and trails to educational programs that teach visitors how to safely engage with nature and guided tours that share natural collective history. They said long-term projects and research were also at risk during the shutdown.
“We should not leave museums open without airports without curators or air traffic controllers. We should not leave national parks open without NPS employees,” said Emily Thompson, executive director of the Union of Protecting American National Parks, one of the groups that organized the letter.
“The wisest result here is not only to keep the government open, but also to fully fund and staff the park,” she said. But if there is a shutdown from Wednesday, “safety must come first,” she added.
The Ministry of Interior and the National Parks Service declined to comment Friday.
During the 35-day government shutdown in 2018 and 2019, national parks remained open during President Donald Trump’s first term. However, due to limited personnel, problems quickly emerged. Visitors cut new trails in sensitive soil, open park gates while no one was looking, and one off-road We cut off the iconic twisted, well-balanced Joshua tree of California.
During the 2013 closure, the Parks Service under former President Barack Obama drove millions of visitors to more than 400 parks, national memorials and other locations. The service estimated that the shutdown has resulted in over $500 million lost visitors across the country. It also causes economic damage to the so-called gateway community adjacent to the national park, relying heavily on the visitors they portray.
Wanting to minimize the economic damage to their state, Utah officials have reached an agreement with federal officials to donate $1.7 million to keep the national park open. Utah and other states made similar transactions ahead of the 2018-19 closure.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Brown from Billings, Montana contributed to the story.
