United States: in the event of a “shutdown”, national parks like Yosemite or Yellowstone will close

2023-09-30 06:04:16

They too will have to stop. Most of America’s famous national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone will close their doors to visitors in the event of a “shutdown”, this government budgetary paralysis which could occur as early as Sunday, the Interior Department said on Friday.

The threat of a “shutdown” regularly returns to American political life.

The 2024 budget must be adopted by Congress before October 1. But without an agreement between Democrats and Republicans, who are arguing over, among other things, additional aid to Ukraine at war, the federal administration will have to stop certain payments.

National parks, natural jewels that are the pride of the United States, will be immediately affected. “In parks across the country the gates will be locked, visitor centers closed and thousands of forest rangers put out of work,” said a senior official from the Interior Department, which notably oversees resources. natural resources on federal lands, such as national parks and wildlife refuges.

Reduced services

There are exceptions: where national parks are, by their location, accessible to the public, they will be open but with reduced services. This concerns, for example, the National Mall in Washington, a large expanse which includes the emblematic obelisk of the capital and the Lincoln Memorial, but also certain panoramas and hiking trails.

“As in the past, we expect state leaders to offer to provide funding for parks in their states if there is a disruption in federal funding,” the senior official added.

During the “shutdown” of a few weeks in 2018-2019, under the administration of Donald Trump, Joshua Tree National Park, in California, remained partially open and was delivered to chaos. Some of its famous trees had been damaged and car rallies had been improvised in protected areas.