National parks face years of damage from government shutdown

[KelleyKramer]

National parks face years of damage from government shutdown

When the government eventually reopens, park experts warn reversing damage won't be as easy as throwing out the trash.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/why-national-parks-trashed-during-government-shutdown/


NATIONAL PARKS ARE America's public lands, but right now they're America's trashcans.

That's because the U.S. federal government, embattled over funding for a border wall, has shut down, leaving national parks open and largely unattended. Since the shutdown began, brimming trashcans, overflowing toilets, and trespassing has been reported at many parks locations.

“Never before have I seen the federal government tempt fate in national parks the way we are today,” says Diane Regas, president of the Trust for Public Land. “It's not about what has happened already. It's about what could happen if you don't have the appropriate staffing.”

Understaffed parks can also be dangerous for visitors. Three deaths have been reported in parks since the shutdown, and one injured man was carried to safety by strangers passing through.


Open for business?

According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), staffing varies by park, but some 16,000 parks service employees are furloughed, leaving a small number active for policing and security. The government shut down three times in 2018, but only three days last January and less than a day that following February. As of Friday, the government had been partially shut down for 13 days.


Impacts on people and wildlife

But now, “exposure to sewage is a huge risk to human health,” says Regas. On Wednesday, campsites at Joshua Tree National Park in California were forced to shut down as pit toilets reached capacity. The NPCA also says human waste has been seen on roads and in open areas.

Regas says the lack of staffing has led to little information on the scale of the problem.

Leaving trash out in the open could also upset the delicate balance parks must maintain between visitors and wildlife. “For the past couple of decades the park service has worked hard to ween the black bear population from human food,” says Jarvis. Once animals like bears or coyotes begin to associate humans with food, Jarvis says the risk that an animal could attack or have to be euthanized increases.

Adding to a billion-dollar backlog

Already, the National Park Service backlog includes $11.6 billion worth of deferred infrastructure projects, such as maintaining roads and waterways. Without entrance fees, parks are losing out on roughly $400,000 a day.

Once the government reopens, Jarvis says park employees will be responsible for cleaning up the mess left by visitors, further delaying projects that have already been deferred. No news about any additional funding to assist in the clean-up has been announced.

It's unclear how much trash has accumulated thus far. A calculation by the news outlet Quartz estimated 27 tons of trash has been left at Yosemite. A report from NPCA estimated that 100 million pounds of trash was thrown away at National Parks in 2015, and maintaining clean parks requires functioning infrastructure and visitor education.

Both Regas and Jarvis say the parks should be fully shut down until the government reopens to prevent any further damage.

Lamfrom says the full scale of the problem is yet to be determined but clean up timelines will range in length. “Some [efforts] will take weeks or months. Some will last generations. Some may not be able to be fixed.”


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[d_r]

1. whats worse is

I heard that red necks were taking this opportunity not only to toss out beer cans but to ride four wheelers on trails, and that is going to cause lasting damage.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

2. Soon it will be open season on wolves and bison in Yellowstone N.P.

nt