Kevin Lind is a staff writer for the Deseret News on the Ideas and Culture team, covering the Intermountain West.
WASHINGTON — With another government shutdown looming, former National Park Service leaders urged the Department of the Interior to close national parks if budgets are not approved in time.In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, 40 former park superintendents, regional directors and a former National Park Service director made an "urgent appeal" not to leave the parks open should Congress fail to pass a new budget, as has happened in the past.
"Leaving parks open to the public with minimal — or no — park staffing is reckless and puts both visitors and park resources at risk," the letter read.The retired superintendents managed such parks as Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Denali, the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Harper's Ferry, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Yosemite, among others.There were also former regional directors from Alaska, Boston and the Pacific Northwest as well as Jonathan B. Jarvis, the 18th director of the National Park Service.The letter referenced past government shutdowns when parks were left open with minimal staff resulting in vandalization, garbage piling up, the destruction of habitats and visitors' safety being jeopardized."We don't leave museums open without curators, or airports without air traffic controllers, and we should not leave our national parks open without park service employees," said Emily Thompson, the executive director of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks."The most sensible outcome here is to not only keep the government open, but to fully fund and staff our parks. But parks can't run themselves, and if the government shuts down, so should the national parks. Safety must come first."Thompson's organization represents current and former national park employees. It partnered with the Association of National Park Rangers to write the letter."Without staff to monitor what is happening in parks, vandalism, poaching, 'pothunting' in archeological sites, and looting in battlefield sites are likely to increase," said Bill Wade, the executive director, Association of National Park Rangers. "We believe this nation's citizens do not want these things to happen to their beloved national parks."In addition to those concerns, the superintendents also noted current staffing levels, which upon last independent review were around 24% diminished since last year, are already straining the park service. That reduction in perso
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