Around the country, as the partial government shutdown moves into its second week, taxpayers angry with the closure of national parks are showing their disgust through civil disobedience, mockery, and anger directed at the National Park Service.
The national park idea, long recognized as America's best, is being degraded and disrespected as the result of a much different idea—using the parks as leverage to try to gain the advantage in a political donnybrook.
Many of the government functions impacted by the shutdown, while important, simply don't have the same media interest—or impact on the general public—as closure of the national parks. It's hard to generate a compelling news photo based on the interruption of airliner safety inspection or suspensions of some FDA food safety inspections. Hang a closed sign on the entrance to the Grand Canyon, however, or put a belligerent congressman face-to-face with a ranger at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, and you have plenty of fodder for the prime-time network news.
The result is an agency and its employees caught in the middle of a fight it didn't create—or want.
Some critics are driven by anger over loss of income from the parks' closure. Others by disgust with Obama administration. Still others seemingly by the belief that the federal government has no right to close the parks. In the end, however, it's the rangers on the ground who are seen as the "face" of the shutdown.
Some Republicans in Congress, particularly in the House, blame the administration for the parks' continued closure, pointing out that that chamber voted to restore funding for the Park Service, among some other agencies and programs. But that legislation was tied to a demand that the Affordable Care Act be scaled back. Some protesting the parks' closure staged an "occupy" movement of Zion National Park last week, a protest that reportedly drew fewer than two dozen.
Many more turned out at Acadia National Park, where they simply walked around barricades to spend a beautiful fall afternoon on the park's Carriage Roads. One of those visitors was involved in a backcountry accident, and the resulting rescue severely taxed the limited resources of a park in "shutdown mode."
At Acadia National Park this week, many cyclists routinely ignored the "closed" signs at the Carriage Roads. Rebecca Latson photo.
No doubt other parks saw visitors ignore the closure signs. There's even a "movement" encouraging people to enter the parks while they're closed.
In Florida, word that the waters of Everglades and Biscayne national parks were being closed led to ridicule of the Obama administration for "closing the ocean." However, the waters adjoining those two parks are as much part of the parks as the Thorofare region of Yellowstone National Park is part of that park, as the Tuloumne Meadows area is of Yosemite National Park, as the Maze is of Canyonlands National Park, and as the Cataloochee Valley is of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Too, Biscayne counts approximately 40 keys, or islets, within its watery landscape. That seascape, which comprises 95 percent of the park, also holds historic shipwrecks and fragile coral reefs that have suffered in the past from poachers of history. Those of Everglades hold vital habitat for fisheries.
When those parks were created, the Park Service was charged with overseeing those resources, and with reduced ranks spurred by the failure of Congress to pass a Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded, the agency is sorely lacking the manpower to monitor those areas.
"Whether units of the NPS are historic buildings that can be physically closed by closing a door, or parks with entrance stations able to close with a staff person speaking to visitors or by pulling gates across roads or in the case of some of our nation's most sacred sites, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial to the new WW ll Memorial that do not have physical doors or gates to close - these places are all a part of the National Park System whether they have a structure to close or they are sites without a defined entrance point such as the Lincoln Memorial," said Joan Anzelmo, a former park superintendent and now a member of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
"The NPS is responsible for them and they are on federal lands. If left unstaffed in ways the public can see -- and more importantly in the ways the public can't see -- these places will not be preserved the way the agency has been directed to do by Congress," she added. "Congress can't direct the agency on one hand to protect the parks (all of them) so they are unimpaired for the future generations and then suddenly just say never mind- let them be open or let some of them be open. The U.S. National Park System has been an exemplar to the world and parks and the employees should not be played as pawns by Congress."
Regarding the situation at the National Mall, where attention has been focused on access, in particular, to the World War II Veterans Memorial, Ms. Anzelmo pointed to the status of all of the Mall's memorials as icons of our nation ... and also as potential targets for those who wish to do our country harm.
"I worked the shutdown in '95 and '96 and remember there were barricades placed at the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in that shutdown. Fast forward these 17 years and the security concerns area thousand times what they were in the innocent 1990s especially at the iconic locations such as the National Mall and Memorials in Washington, D.C.," she said. " There are many behind-the-scenes security-related components, including staff (uniform and plain clothes) that are in place to protect these sacred sites and the millions of people who visit them. When you furlough the vast majority of the workforce due to no appropriation you suddenly reduce the capacity to safely protect the sacred sites themselves and to protect the visitors who wish to visit them. This is very serious business in present day times."
That the National Park System has become a pawn in Congress's malfeasance is unfortunate, regrettable, and unnecessarily places the rangers, and the public, at risk.
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Comments
Hello Lee,
1. Agreed. But let's refrain from hyperbole and make note that no one has ever been prosecuted or indicted for violation of the Antideficiency Act, including Abraham Lincoln whose war time spending inspired its creation. Arnold, William G. (2009). The Antideficiency ACT Answer Book. Management Concepts. p. 112.
2. The barricade closure of Mt Vernon wasn't a hoax but it was a mistake that has been rectified.
"The National Park Service blocked parking lots at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens “due to a misunderstanding over the ownership of the spaces,” according to Melissa Wood, Mt. Vernon’s media director.
Mount Vernon officials approached the NPS, which removed the barricades “as soon as they realized their mistake,” Wood says, adding that the Park Service maintains the parking lots, but Mount Vernon owns the property."http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/03/national-park-service-blocks-...
3. Agreed.
I sincerely hope you didn't intend to call me gullible or stupid, though I do confess: I have succumbed to both those adjectives many times. Especially after my third Maker's Mark.
Right Kurt?
Cheers, Andrea
As I suspected Justin - you won't (can't) express your "arguement". Tell us. What is you point?
You keep bringing it up, so why can't you? It's in that other thread, but because it's elaborated through our discussion, reproducing the entire conversation in a single comment would obviously be too ponderous, especially when it's literally there in black and white for you to review. But let me make it easy for you: insert any answers you want to those questions, and if you can show how they, in your very own words, "destroy my argument," I will be more than happy to concede the issue. So, let's be clear: you said that I'm refusing to answer the questions because my answers would destroy my argument. Provide any answers that you want and explain how they would destroy my argument. This should be easy--place those answers next to my argument, which you can cut and paste from the other thread. If you can't show the very thing you're claiming, I don't know what else can be said.
How does extending one year mandate help citizens? You want the sick and uninsure to wait another year? Why is this even on the table other than revisiting the issue during next year's senate election for more talking points? Are GOPs so afraid of positive results that can happen within this one year? You missed the part where GOP wants to repeal medical device tax...wanna defend that point too? To hold congress on same level as public? What? This ACA isn't about those self-center congress jerks. I'm sure they want to make it sound like they are willing to sacrifice their souls for the public good, but damn it, that is a lot of smoke in our face!
This silly idea to think we can treat corporations and individual mandate as the same is just talking point. Companies have quarterly/annual budget and long term business plans they need to consider...what does you average joe that is sick and need affordable insurance but can't get do?
And now they want to tie this to debt ceiling? You want to support that too? Lets hold the rest of the world hostage too. Why not? Next November, they can talk about how they crash the world economy too! Instead of solving challenges, GOP just creates more and offers no better solution.
The roots of these issues are deep but our divided congress and political system just further divides us all. They throw common sense out the window and rarely working in the interests of the people they claim to serve.
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BTW, the Acadia accident involved a 69 yrs old woman that ignored the closure and went hiking in the park anyway. One would think wisdom comes with age...What? No one can wait for next year's Fall foliage? Try telling the sick to wait another year for affordable healthcare!
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/10/05/news/hancock/visitors-determined-to-enjoy-closed-acadia-national-park-a-real-problem-for-rangers/
At the risk of being called stupid, lazy or gullible by Lee or one of the 'normal complainers' by Rick Smith I will post a news release from the Claude Moore farm...
Hi Folks, We have good news for you at last! The NPS has reversed their decision to close the Farm and we will be open tomorrow as usual. You can now visit the 18th century Farm, come to the Book Shop tomorrow afternoon, participate in Farm Skills on Thursday and have picnics at The Pavilions again. And all of our volunteers are welcome to come back "home". Just this morning we received the final absolute NO from the Dept. of Interior and were told the Farm would not open until the shutdown ended. An hour later the Park Police showed up and closed and barricaded the office gates with us inside. This has been a very rough week and we are profoundly grateful that this is ending. Obviously, the decision would not have been reversed without the news coverage, forwarded emails, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts and personal appeals from all of you. People read about the Farm's situation from across the country and have been so generous with words of encouragement, donations, purchasing goods from our website and buying memberships. Folks came up from Richmond today just to pick up livestock feed from the mill in Loudoun County as we have been uneasy about leaving the Farm unprotected. We have no idea why the NPS changed its mind but we are very pleased that they did and hope that every group trying to operate on Federal lands has the same happy outcome. Please check the Farm's Facebook page for updates on the Colonials Against Tyranny protest rally scheduled for 5 pm tomorrow. Our Farm Volunteers are the best! Now we just have to make up the lost revenue and start setting up for the Fall Market Fair to be held on October 19 & 20. If you would like to help in that effort, please email [email protected]g. As we say in the 18th century, "Hip, Hip, Huzzah". Thank you all so much and we hope to see you soon at the Farm. Anna Eberly
Managing Director
Evidently something has happened to make the NPS reverse itself regarding this farm. I'm glad that it has and hope that the Park Service continues to rectify some of the outrageous errors it has made during this 'shutdown'.
Of course, it all may yet turn out to be some crazy right wing news coverage that never had any basis in fact. :)
Items posted about by MikeG (on Claude Moore Colonial Farm) and haunter hiker (on Mt. Vernon) at least show someone at the NPS is willing to look at specific situations where the legalities of "ownership" and "operation" can be confusing, and correct mistakes that were made in the initial days of the shutdown.
As to other recent posts: ecbuck and justinh, please call a truce on your back and forth exchange, which adds nothing to the discussion here. Agree that neither of you understands the other, and move on.
ec,
Can you please explain what you are requesting here:
I know this has been a republican talking point, blown up by media outlets such as Breitbart and FoxNews but I am pretty sure that most who read those publications do not truly understand the issue nor the facts behind the issue. You repeatedly mention this, so I want your take on it. Maybe if I understand your reasoning, I can see your point of view.
OK, ec, sorry for the lag in responding, but I really try to limit my Traveler time to 12 hours a day.
In short, you can't demand that others document their claims, and castigate them when they don't do that, and then push off the same request. Regarding the Pisgah Inn, you asserted that it takes no government funding to keep it open, so providing the proof of that assertion is on your shoulders, no other's.
As for the constitutionality of the administration's action to delay implementation of ACA on corporation for a year, the Atlantic story I pointed out clearly showed -- through both previous court rulings and the opinions of constitutional experts -- that it was constitutional, and to waive that off through your own opinion doesn't wash, particularly if you're going to demand proof, not personal opinion, from others to back up their statements.
No need to respond, because I really don't want to get into a long-winded back-and-forth as you and Justin did.
And Andrea, Maker's Mark? Really?? Next time you come to Utah I'll treat you to either American Prairie or Son of Bourye, two delicious bourbons made by our very own High West Distillery!