National park superintendents have been given permission to tap fee revenues to pay for basic maintenance and custodial needs/Rebecca Latson sunrise shot from Bryce Canyon National Park

Editor's note: This adds reaction from the National Parks Conservation Association, provides additional details on potential consequences.

Growing problems involving human waste and litter have prompted Interior Department officials to clear the way for national parks to tap fee revenues typically reserved for future projects to pay for basic maintenance and custodial needs during the ongoing partial government shutdown. The move was immediately criticized by the National Parks Conservation Association, which voiced concerns over the use of fee revenues as well as inequities involving parks that don't collect fees.

The decision Sunday by Interior officials raises a question of how this transfer of funds will impact the nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog in the National Park System, since entrance fees typically are used to address some of those needs. Parks that charge entrance fees can retain 80 percent of those revenues for  maintenance projects, visitor services, wildlife habitat needs, law enforcement, and recreation projects, while the remaining 20 percent goes back to Washington, D.C., to be distributed to parks that don't charge entrance fees.

National Park Service Director P. Daniel Smith didn't address that matter in a system-wide email sent to Park Service managers.

“The NPS currently has funds derived from entrance, camping, parking and other fees collected from park visitors that would typically be used for future projects at parks," Smith wrote to all park superintendents and regional directors. "After consultation with the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the Interior, it has been determined that these funds can and should be used to provide immediate assistance and services to highly visited parks during the lapse in appropriations.

“We are taking this extraordinary step to ensure that parks are protected, and that visitors can continue to access parks with limited basic services," he added.

Since the National Park Service was told to keep many units of the National Park System open during the ongoing shutdown, but only with essential personnel, many parks have struggled with skeleton contingents of law enforcement rangers. With no maintenance crews to collect trash or maintain restrooms, and no budget to pay for outside help, many parks have been blighted by litter and human waste. The lack of the normal ranger force also has led to public safety concerns in some parks.

Yosemite National Park officials announced Friday evening that the John Muir and Nevada Fall trails were being closed for human safety and due to human waste. On Christmas Day a man died above Nevada Fall when he fell in the Merced River and hit his head. Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks closed in entirety due to human safety and sanitation issues, and campgrounds in Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Big Bend, and Death Valley national parks also have been closed. Some roads in Rocky Mountain National Park were closed December 30 when they became snow-covered.

Smith said the release of funds would allow parks to remove trash, clean and maintain restrooms, and bring back additional law enforcement personnel to "patrol accessible areas, and to restore accessibility to areas that would typically be accessible this time of year."

"While the NPS will not be able to fully open parks," he added, "and many of the smaller sites around the country will remain closed, utilizing these funds now will allow the American public to safely visit many of our nation’s national parks while providing these iconic treasures the protection they deserve."

But National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno said the use of fee revenues was wrong.

“Instead of working to reopen the federal government, the administration is robbing money collected from entrance fees to operate our national parks during this shutdown. It’s incredibly concerning that the Acting Interior Secretary is putting political pressure on superintendents to keep parks open at the expense of parks’ long-term needs and protection," she said. "For those parks that don’t collect fees, they will now be in the position of competing for the same inadequate pot of money to protect their resources and visitors. Draining accounts dry is not the answer.

"National parks were already struggling before this government shutdown, operating with fewer staff and smaller budgets to sustain our parks," added Pierno. "Rather than giving parks the funding they need, the president proposed slashing the parks’ budget, which would have cut thousands of ranger positions. Now he wants to pilfer from entrance fees, depleting these badly needed resources to the point of wiping them out entirely."

The NPCA president pointed out that parks were forecast to collect $310 million in fees last year. Additionally, NPCA staff calculated that the ongoing shutdown, which has left national parks without staff to collect entrance fees, has cost the Park Service "more than $6 million in fee revenue."

"While this amount ($310 million) is less than 13 percent of the agency’s annual operating funds from Congress, the money goes a long way in many parks," she said. "Diverting this money will dig our parks into an even bigger financial hole. This will hurt rangers, parks, visitors and the tourism economy long after the shutdown is over.

"Instead of robbing from park funds, the president needs to work with Congress to fully reopen the federal government, including our national parks. And he should propose budgets that will authentically help operate parks and address their maintenance needs in the long-term. Budget antics are not the way to fund our parks.”

In his email, Smith applauded the private organizations, businesses, and states that have stepped up with funding to provide a modicum of custodial services and for visitor center staffing.

"Thanks to the strong relationships that many national parks have built with partners across the country, a number of states, private concession companies, and park nonprofit groups have stepped up to provide over two million dollars’ worth of donations and in-kind services to help over 40 parks continue to provide key services for visitors," he said.

However, he added that, "(A)s the lapse in appropriations continues, it has become clear that highly visited parks with limited staff have urgent needs that cannot be addressed solely through the generosity of our partners."

For additional information on access across the National Park System, visitors were directed to check the main National Park Service website and select the “Find a Park” option.