Natural History Wanderings

Vox reports

Here’s why they’re still open.

Strewn with garbage and overflowing toilets, national parks have taken an especially bad hit during the most recent government shutdown.

Although visitors centers are closed and staffing is low — some law enforcement and emergency personnel is on site — park gates remain open, free of charge, and people are flooding in largely unsupervised. This decision to keep parks open is part of a contingency plan set up last year allowing a small staff to remain on the payroll, but the limited staffing has proven to insufficient for how many people are visiting.

Read more at  Government shutdown: why national parks are getting trashed – Vox