National Parks have been facing hardships such as trash pile up, understaffing, land destruction and safety hazards since the government shutdown. Since the government went into a partial shutdown on Dec. 21 the United States National Parks have been grossly understaffed due to many of their park rangers, maintenance workers and various other park staff being put on furlough.
Now, with a much smaller staff the majority of the parks have remained open to the public under President Trump’s administration. This differs from administrations in the past who have closed National Parks completely during a government shutdown. As visitors still come to enjoy the parks, there are less park rangers and maintenance workers to take care of the park visitors and the park’s needs, leading to an array of issues within the parks.
Many of America’s National Parks, often described as being some of the most beautiful in the world, have faced issues such as overflowing trash cans, overflowing toilets and trespassing during this shutdown. Joshua Tree National Park in California was forced to shut down recently due to overflowing toilets and visitors not following park rules.
According to The New York Times, Yellowstone National Park is now littered with waste as the majority of maintenance workers continuing to be on furlough.
America’s National Parks mean a lot to many people due to their beauty, their environmental conservation efforts and their wildlife protection initiatives. Avid hiker Samantha Hauser who has visited multiple National Parks worries about the fate of the parks during this partial government shutdown.
“I believe the National Parks are very important because they preserve the environment, can be enjoyed by everyone and creates jobs. National parks (at least for now) are rare places where humans can’t obstruct or take advantage of nature,” Hauser said.
Hauser is ultimately disappointed to see how the parks are being treated during this shutdown and worries about the environmental impacts.
“Without park rangers and maintenance crews, it doesn’t surprise me that people are being disrespectful and irresponsible. It upsets me that people are taking advantage of this government shutdown and are not cleaning up after themselves. Trash and other forms of pollution can destroy the environment and the wildlife. People are also putting themselves at risk because National Parks can be hazardous,” Hauser said.
The National Parks are known to be dangerous without the proper guides to ensure people know where to go and what safety precautions to take when hiking. Now, as most of the parks are understaffed in the midst of the partial government shutdown, people have been getting hurt and even dying from a lack of safety instructions. According to the Washington Post, a total of seven people have died in National Parks since the shutdown began. Even when the parks are running normally and full staffed there are deaths and injuries. Park rangers do a lot to prevent injuries and deaths daily and now that the parks are understaffed, people are put at an even greater risk of injury.
America’s National Parks are being trashed with litter since the government went into a partial shutdown posing a threat to the ecosystem and surrounding wildlife.
“When I went to Yellowstone [National Park] the park rangers worked hard to keep people safe. When a buffalo approached a group of tourists, the park rangers stepped in and prevented people from getting too close to the large and unpredictable animal. Park rangers also prevented people from wandering off designated paths. The geysers are extremely dangerous and without rangers there to monitor the area, people can and will wander too close,” Hauser said.
Pollution and littering has also become an issue during this partial government shutdown. According to CNN, at many of the National Park’s toilets have begun to overflow. This has left human waste to become present in public areas posing a health risk to visitors. The waste from trash bins in National Parks has begun to overflow as well.
“If the government continues to shutdown…there will be litter everywhere and it will take a huge toll on the wildlife…Ecosystems will be destroyed and garbage will be littered throughout the once beautiful park,” Hauser said.
Fortunately, there are people who have committed to volunteering to pick up trash from national parks to help keep the ecosystem thriving. According to The New York Times volunteers have been going to Yellowstone to help keep the litter off the scenic view.
Although it is unclear when the government will reopen and what agreement Washington will come to over border security, it is clear to National Park workers that the fate of the beautiful, scenic American National Parks is not looking good.
