Trump Shutdown Forces National Parks To Remain Open, Operate With Skeleton Crews

WASHINGTON, DC - As part of the federal government shutdown that began at midnight on Wednesday, October 1, the National Park Service has been ordered to keep national parks open and to operate them with skeleton crews. Almost 9,300 national park employeesare expected to be furloughed, and some may also receive permanent Reduction in Force (RIF) noticesunder a new administration directive.

The National Park Service's contingency plancalls for park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials to remain accessible to visitors, and allows parks "with accessible areas" that collect fees to use those fees to provide some basic services, including maintaining bathrooms and roads, collecting trash, providing emergency operations, and staffing entrance gates.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's lapse of funding plandirects the Forest Service to close remote recreational sites but continue some business functions, such as responding to and preparing for wildfires. The Bureau of Land Management's contingency plancalls for some staff to continue working to advance oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and other activities for their fake "energy emergency."

In response, Jackie Ostfeld, Outdoors for All Campaign Director at the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

"It is irresponsible to keep national parks, forests, and other public lands open without the proper staffing and support needed to manage them safely. The Trump administration's ongoing assault on public lands is stretching national parks staff thin. Forcing national parks to operate without sufficient support, simply to maintain the illusion of openness, puts visitors, staff, and the land at risk. We saw this playbook during the last government shutdown, when overflowing trash, damaged trails, and unsafe conditions became the norm. This is once again a direct result of the Trump administration's sustained attack on the people and resources that keep our public lands running, in order to one day justify privatizing those public lands."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.