Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West’s iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors but with little staff on duty.
“It’s a free-for-all,” said Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, as Yosemite National Park officials announced closings of some minimally supervised campgrounds and public areas within the park that are overwhelmed.
“It’s so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I’ve seen in my four years living here,” Snider said.
So everybody keep in mind that 1) there are 417 National Park sites 2) 95% of the excrement will not be cleaned up 3) 5% will be cleaned up with a shovel and a bucket and 4) right now Forest Service gates are being ripped out of the ground and trees are being cut over for fun.
— AltForestService (@AltForestServ) January 1, 2019
At Joshua Tree National Park, champagne bottles were left strewn on the desert floor on New Year’s morning, along with a prom dress.
Someone had kicked one of the iconic trees, perhaps to see how sturdy it was.
Human waste was piling up.
At Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree and beyond, the nearly two-week-long shutdown has taken a toll.
Reports of vandalism, illegal camping and off-road driving have led to restricted operations.
The partial federal government shutdown, now into its 12th day, has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees.
This has left many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running.
Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, the Trump administration was leaving parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs, said John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.
“We’re afraid that we’re going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts,” Garder said.
“We’re concerned there’ll be impacts to visitors’ safety.”
“It’s really a nightmare scenario,” Garder said.
Under the park service’s shutdown plan, authorities have to close any area where garbage or other problems become threats to health and safety or to wildlife, said spokesman Jeremy Barnum.
“At the superintendent’s discretion, parks may close grounds/areas with sensitive natural, cultural, historic, or archaeological resources vulnerable to destruction, looting, or other damage that cannot be adequately protected by the excepted law enforcement staff that remain on duty,” Barnum said.
In the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, some areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks were closed Monday evening.
In Sequoia, home to immense and ancient giant sequoias, General Highway was closed because overflowing trash bins were spreading litter and posed a threat to wildlife and the icy, jammed roadway was seeing up to three-hour delays, according to the National Park Service.
Even under the best conditions, California’s popular outdoor destinations can strain under the throngs of visitors.
But the skeleton crews and volunteers now patrolling the parks have shown how essential maintenance and rule enforcement are to keeping the order.
“We just can’t continue at the pace we have been at for the last 12 days,” said Sabra Purdy, co-owner of Joshua Tree-based Cliffhanger Guides, who has been coordinating volunteer cleanup efforts.
Campgrounds at Joshua Tree closed at noon today, officials said, citing health and safety concerns over vault toilets that are near capacity.
The waterless bathrooms in which visitors can relieve themselves into a sealed container buried underground had remained open.
But with no workers to pump out the waste, those are being closed now as well.
Meanwhile, rangers at Yosemite National Park have set a roadside checkpoint up at the southern entrance, along California Highway 41.
Only people with reservations for lodging or camping inside the park will be allowed entrance between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., officials said.
The partial government shutdown, triggered by a dispute between President Trump and Congress over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, is now well into its second week, with no resolution in sight.
Democrats, who take control of the House tomorrow, plan to vote on a bill to open much of the government while denying Trump money for the wall.
Trump, in a tweet on Tuesday, rejected the legislation, which would provide money for border security but nothing for the wall.