A Trashy Situation

On Saturday, December 22nd 2018, the government of the United States shut down. This is a result of Congress and President Trump not being able to come to an agreement on the $5 billion border wall with Mexico. While Trump had campaigned as a master negotiator, he is still unable to come to an agreement with congressional Democrats and has left parts of the country broken, including the National Park Service.

Except for the essential personnel, all employees will not be able to do their jobs and protect the parks. According to the official contingency plan released by the Department of the Interior, “Parks must notify visitors that the NPS will cease providing visitor services, including restrooms, trash collection, facilities and roads maintenance (including plowing), campground reservation and check-in/check-out services, backcountry and other permits, and public information.” (doi.gov) Visitors are still allowed to visit parks, however. This has caused an influx of litter in and around parks. While many good samaritans have stepped in to help clean up, the parks are still getting trashed and unmaintained. Joshua Tree National Park had to shut down its campsites because of the overflow of human waste. Many have reported seeing human waste around the other areas of the park.

(wtop.com ) Trash in Washington D.C. That’s right! Literal poop.

The NPS will have to take from their $11 billion maintenance backlog, giving hundreds of the parks who don’t accept fees money to rebuild. This may not be enough for all 400 parks to recover and park fees and merchandise may be more expensive. According to the National Park Foundation (national parks.org) the 2013 shutdown caused a $450,000 per day revenue loss. In any case, the National Parks Service will continue to keep the parks open with limited resources for campers until the government is reopened, and we might be waiting for a while.