Can you still visit national parks during shutdown? It dependspublished at 02:34 BST
02:34 BST
It is unclear if US National Parks will be open during a shutdown as the Department of Interior has not published its shutdown plans.
Last year, when a shutdown loomed, the park service said it planned to close to visitors. That shutdown was averted and the plan didn’t come into effect.
But during the 2018-2019 shutdown in Trump’s first term, his administration kept the parks open although most workers were furloughed.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption,
Yosemite National Park in California
Conservation advocates hope the over 433 sites under the National Park Service will be closed in the event of a shutdown.
“We know what happened last time park staff were forced to leave parks open and unprotected, and the impacts were disastrous,” Theresa Pierno, president of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association said in a statement.
“Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized, battlefield artifacts were stolen, Joshua trees were cut down and illegal off-roading vehicles drove through fragile archaeological sites.
“The damage was devastating and, in some cases, permanent. If the federal government shuts down, unfortunately our parks should too.”