At the time of this writing, Friday, September 29, from all appearances, the likelihood of a federal government shutdown happening on Sunday is a safe bet. We’ll leave the politics out of this article, and get to how RVers and others could be affected. What will happen to access to national parks and other public lands? Here’s the latest information.
Interior says it will close national parks
In a news release from the Department of the Interior, things sound pretty grim for recreationists wanting to see America’s jewels—the national parks. Here are some direct comments.
“In the event of a lapse in annual government appropriations, National Park Service (NPS) sites will be closed. This means that the majority of national parks will be closed completely to public access. Areas that, by their nature, are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced visitor services.”
During the last government shutdown, which covered parts of December 2018 and January 2019, some of the nations’ parks took serious hits by inconsiderate folks. Ignoring the closed gates, they ran roughshod into sensitive areas, and did anything but use a “pack it in, pack it out” ethos. When parks reopened, mounds of trash and vandalized infrastructure had to be cleaned up.
With the potential of a federal government shutdown, the Interior Department press release adds a plea to the facts. “At NPS sites across the country, gates will be locked, visitor centers will be closed and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed. Accordingly, the public will be encouraged not to visit sites during the period of lapse in appropriations out of consideration for protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as visitor safety.”
Don’t winterize the motorhome just yet
It certainly sounds like access to national parks will be off. If you had plans to visit, and maybe campground reservations at an NPS site, no doubt you’re concerned. But don’t winterize the motorhome just yet. Not all national parks will be closed, even if the shutdown occurs. Some states are stepping up to the plate to see to it these treasures are still available to the public, and in a responsible and safe way.
In Colorado, the governor has ordered the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to work up a plan to keep NPS sites open using state money. Neighboring states Utah and Arizona have similar plans. Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands National Parks will continue to receive guests, all with these states’ financial support.
Some might wonder about what’s behind these states’ largesse. Like a lot of things, money is the driving factor. For every buck put into the National Park Service, there are 15 more that come back out at the other end in terms of economic activity. Tourism is big business, and the states recognize the hurt that will come if the parks are allowed to lie fallow until the wrangling in Washington, D.C., ends. And, too, they’ll no doubt ask the feds to reimburse them for the money spent to keep the parks open.
What about USFS and BLM lands?
What about other federal lands? We’ve not been able to find any official word from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). However, if the history of the last shutdown is any indicator, access to most public lands under these agencies’ jurisdiction should still remain open.
However, as far as visitor centers and other “facilities” go, it’s likely the doors will be closed and locked. It’s unclear how campgrounds operated by concessionaires will be affected. During the last shutdown, the masses gathered in Quartzsite and Yuma, Arizona, on the BLM’s Long Term Visitor Areas weren’t told to go home. However, trash service did get dicey.
Keep in mind, while emergency services will continue to some degree this will be true. There will be a huge cutback in federal employee boots on the ground. In the event of a shutdown, it would NOT be a good time to get lost in the woods. Nor to fall off a cliff. It might be a very long time before crews could come to find you. Should you choose to RV on federal lands during the shutdown, you’ll largely be on your own.
Living in “interesting times”
The last shutdown lasted 35 days—the longest federal government shutdown in four decades. How long will the next one—which could start tomorrow—last? It’s a complete unknowable. We’re called to remember what some call “The Chinese Curse”: “May you live in interesting times.” It appears that saying didn’t originate in China at all. The closest saying we could find from China is this gem: “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.” All we can add is, “Woof! Woof!”
##RVT1124b
Snowbirds want to know if the northern border will be open
If not, just fly to Mexico and walk on in.
Turn around. We’ve forgotten how to compromise and get along with each other here.
Our so called “public servants” hard at work for us! Thanks Congress!
It isn’t all of congress. Just a few who are willing to do this to get their way.
Agree! As most civil individuals in our RV community comprehend regardless of absurdity”
Hurting and snatching grocery money, rent and mortgage money from tens of thousands of park rangers, services members, and other public servants that work hard for us.
Cry me a river. If 80% of fed employees were permanently gone, nothing bad would happen, period. Save 5 billion a day for 10 days and Ukraine pt.2 is covered. Add in 5 more days and pay for insulin for every diabetic in the country. 10 more days, pay for a dozen stealth fighters. 6 more days, gets us to MARS and 1 more days builds a wall.
The 20% of government employees that actually perform a nessesary function, give them a merit based raise from the savings and oh yeah, I said merit based didn’t I? Can’t do that anymore, we only fill jobs based on DEI now so oh well, hire Dylan Mulvaney for a marketing campaign of our NP system. That should work out real good.
By day 30, we should be able to double the pay of school teachers and create competition of the brightest, for good paying teachers jobs and by day 60, triple social security payments to retired seniors giving them a return on the lifetime of forced investments thats closer to 8% over a 30 year contribution period. Maybe in year 2, our budget is balanced and year 3 we see the debt clock spin the other direction for once.
This is a management problem, not a revenue problem. This is a spending problem not a funding problem.
Whew!😅 Take a deep breath Cancel, and then let it out real slowly!!😉
Whew…. much better now. LOL. 😃
Fixing problems is sooooo much easier in the long run than managing those same problems. You know, like we do it in the private sector.
Oops, I did it again. 🤣😂 channeling my inner Brittany Spears.
Whew…… OK, better now. LOL.
LOL!! 😛
Right on – when and where can I vote for you ??
LOL. They all know this but if they actually solve the problems, they have no platform to run on for reelection. If they let rascism die, they can’t use it like a sledge hammer, thus they have to keep racism an issue. If they solve Medicare issues, they can’t tell voters how hard they are working to manage the issue. If they actually solve the border crisis, they cannot grandstand during campaign season.
Solving a problem is easier than managing a problem, just less press or face time on CNN or FOX and why solve problems when managing crisis gets you more facetime by grandstanding.
Balance the budget and lose the blaming as the issue.
The shut down is like a paid vacation for those furloughed. They just have to wait for the back pay after the shut downs. This would work fine with me.
Yes, seems they always get full pay after it’s over. Why not let them work and avoid the parks chaos?
Also, when spending cuts are enforced, the National debt to be paid by young tax payers will be reduced. The shutdown is a small inconvenience compared to ballooning debt to be paid by by others.
Amen to that!
As a federal volunteer, I was told that employees cannot work until the source of payment for their federally recognized department is authorized. It’s not like the private sector, all money spent has to be approved in advance of expenditure. The gov’t agency I volunteer for is now rationing gas. because all the gas cards for government vehicles will be cut off at midnight tonight along with other federal funding sources.
Excellent. Great news.
Will that mean lower gas prices for the rest of us???🤔
Why not start a national movement to stop congress’s pay if they force a shutdown? Or use the IRS formulae for delinquent or incomplete filing and fine each congress person the same way as they are not doing what WE hired (voted) them into congress to do. Congress set Oct 1 as the date all of the budget process should be completed. Set term limits and age limits on them!
If they are not hurt personally, they dont care. Party over public. 4 times in 40 years they had the budget done on time. Bipartisan FAILURE, year after year.
Yes it is
If a congress person is for a FEDERAL shut down, as FEDERAL employee, their pay should be shut down too, like the rest of FEDERAL employees. Couldn’t the rest of congress enact a law like that?
They would first need to vote for spines and a heck of a lot of spines at that, which are in a dreadfuly short supply across all of Washington currently.
You know? … I’ve wondered about that. They all are big talk before I enter the voting booth and then ….. Are their spines removed during the swearing- in ceremony? Once the spine is removed, it seems some of the brain matter leaks out too.
I think you got it.
Absolutely the obvious solution 👍
Is this even worth discussing .. SSDD!
Learned something new. Thanks, I think.🤔 (Not that I’ll ever use it.) Have a great day, Bill. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Share your knowledge please on SSDD? I’m much too old to chase political Gaul. Def. Please, thank you Diane, yes, I think maybe too many descriptive interpretations?
Same S# ** different day
Thanks, Bill.👍 Have a good evening. 😀 –Diane
Hi, Clayobx. Bill beat me to it (I’m working on tomorrow’s newsletter), but he’s correct. Just need to put those (any) initials into Google and it’ll tell you. I think in my day it was just, “Same ol’, same ol’.”😉 Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s newsletter, and it’s still “same ol’, same ol'” around here. (mostly) 🤔
😅 Another good newsletter tomorrow, Bill. (We always try to improve our newsletters so they’re not just the same ol’, same ol’, BTW.😉) (I know what you were referring to.) Just wrapping it up. Have a good night. 🤗 –Diane
State guard units can be called up to protect property and manage crowds, so why not post some of those folks at the national parks that may be closed? While the closing would be a huge inconvenience for travellers, the damage caused/mess made by unwelcome guests during the last shutdown only caused longer delays in reopening and more money out of taxpayers pockets!
I am a volunteer Visitor Center Host for the US Fish & Wildlife Service at a national wildlife refuge. We have been told to stand down along with the employees for the duration of the shutdown.
Our visitor center and campground will be closed. Our refuge will still be paroled by law enforcement. Most bathrooms will be closed too because there is no one to maintain them. As the article above says: “Should you choose to RV on federal lands during the shutdown, you’ll largely be on your own”. This is very accurate, proceed at your own risk.
Thank you! Shutdowns are a bit crazy. I was a fed, and scheduled to attend a luncheon and training session on my own dime. We got shutdown and I was prohibited from attending because it took place during the shutdown. Also, thankfully the shutdown has been kicked down the road. So far, so good.