DENVER (AP) — When the government shut down in 2018, a Mississippi nonprofit got exposed and funded a bare bone crew to run one of the state’s most visited cultural attractions. Now, the group is working to do it again for Vicksburg National Military Park.
The hilly battlefield in 1863, when soldiers fought for control of the Mississippi River, operated by the National Park Service, reopened on Thursday thanks to a commitment from friends at Vicksburg National Military Park, and a campaign that paid $2,000 a day. Current shutdown.
“For us, it’s mainly a matter of conserving the park,” executive director Beth Averett said about the site is home to more than 18,000 veterans from six wars and several former park employees. “When it’s closed or there’s no staff in the park, it’s really vulnerable to vandalism and artefact hunters.”
Park Service’s contingency plan allows parks to enter into agreements with states, Native American tribes, local governments, or other groups that are willing to donate to keep the site open.
Organizations supporting individual national parks across the country have also stepped forward to welcoming visitors. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey has also signed a donation agreement to reopen visitor centers in two state national parks.
Many national parks remain largely open, but visitors’ centers are closed. The US Department of Interior, including Park Services, has released only limited information and directed people towards the generals Emergency response plan In contrast to a detailed and user-friendly list, how over 400 sites work when staffing decreases during shutdowns.
More than a quarter of national parks, many of which are historic property and are inaccessible due to the lockable gates, but large parks that do not have gates remain effectively open to the public, according to Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of the National Park Conservation Association, who works to protect national parks.
Park Services planning allows parks that collect certain recreational fees aimed at paying for maintenance projects and habitat restoration, etc., to use their revenue to provide basic services such as toilets, trash collection and law enforcement during closures.
Haley Smith and her two children, who were travelling to Arkansas from Louisiana, were tricked into Vicksburg National Military Park on Wednesday, but only the canon and a lineup of monuments were visible. The gates blocking tour roads in the park prevented them from exploring most of them. They plan to stop by again on their return trip.
“It’s a big deal for these kids to see history and learn about our national parks,” she said.
Another park reopens with the help of a nonprofit
On Hawaii’s Oahu, the gates to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial were closed for several hours Wednesday morning due to federal closures. The popular tourist destination opened at 11am local time thanks to a nonprofit organization that partners with Park Services to support the monument.
With fundraising help, the Pacific historic park is home to the USS Arizona Memorial and is open whenever possible while closed, the group said.
“The way the process works is that park services provide estimated daily costs, and then we provide the number of days we can afford.
It costs an estimated $9,000 a day. She wants to cover by contacting Hawaii’s governor, tourism board, tour operators and other companies that benefit from over 1.7 million visitors a year to the site.
She said the funding pleas could be applied to any park across the country.
Other groups will assist visitors in the absence of park employees
This week, drivers were exempt from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado without paying admission fees. The road was busy there, with long lines formed with independent toilets near the closed visitor center.
Rocky Mountain Conservancy staff, raising money for the park, helps welcome people from the Visitor Center just outside the park’s boundaries. This remains open under an existing joint agreement with Parks Services, spokesman Kaci Yoh said. Staff who run gift shops at the centre usually assist park rangers who don’t work there, recommend hiking, pass maps, and guide people on how to respect the park’s scenery.
The group plans to add employees during the shutdown but is not allowed to swear the children to the Junior Ranger program, she said. The program will allow children who pledge to become good custodians of national parks to get badges.
“We’re not rangers. We’re doing our best we can,” Yo said.
Staff from a similar group supporting Grand Canyon National Park are also serving as ambassadors through the park’s gift shops. Mindy Liesenberg, a spokesman for the Grand Canyon Conservancy, said the proceeds will be used to support the park as usual.
National parks were damaged during past closures
The National Park Conservation Association urged the Trump administration to close all sites during the closure, citing damages from previous closures, including prehistoric petroglyphs in Big Bend National Park in Texas and slowly growing Joshua trees being cut down.
The states where national parks portray major tourism have lobbyed to keep them open during past closures.
Utah agreed to donate $1.7 million in 2013 to keep the national park open. Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota and Tennessee donated money to keep the park on staff during previous shutdowns. ___
Associated Press journalist Sophie Bates of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Jennifer Cinko Kelleher of Honolulu. Susan Montoya Brian of Albuquerque, New Mexico. And John Laby of Charleston, West Virginia contributed to the report.
