As the partial shutdown of the federal government moved past its third day, news tied to the National Park System didn't evaporate. A glance around the system shows hard times for lodging concessions, a particularly outspoken congressman, and questions about websites and oil production.
* Lodging Blues
As the government's idleness drags on, it's exacting a severe financial toll from the major park concessionaires. Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates in Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion, Crater Lake, Death Valley, and Rocky Mountain national parks, loses just about $1 million in revenues every day the parks remain closed. That number does not include the ongoing overhead in the form of utilities and employee wages.
The Old Faithful Inn is a relatively quiet place these days. Xanterra Parks & Resorts photo.
While Xanterra isn't able to guarantee work and pay for its employees, it is providing lodging and meals for up to three weeks, either free or at a nominal fee, depending on whether those employees are working during the shutdown. Salaried staff are receiving pay for three weeks.
While the Furnace Creek Resort Xanterra runs at Death Valley National Park is actually located on private property and not required to shut down, some guests with reservations are phoning in cancellations, which is understandable when you realize the surrounding park is technically closed to visitors. Xanterra also is seeing cancellations for its train that runs from Williams, Arizona, to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and for its Grand Hotel in nearby Tusayan, Arizona.
ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, meanwhile, has an interesting situation at Olympic National Park, where it operates at Lake Crescent Lodge, Sol Duc Hot Springs, and Lake Quinault Lodge. While Lake Crescent and Sol Duc are inside the park, and so closed during the shutdown, Lake Quinault is just outside the park's southern boundary in the Olympic National Forest and remains open for business.
The lodge's occupancy has been hovering around 50 percent -- more on weekends, less on weekdays -- and is open year-round. You can check availability and make a reservation at this page. While you won't be able to enter the park unless the government gets back to work, there are lots of trails in the national forest to explore and enjoy.
* Apologize To The Ranger
U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, confronted a park ranger at the the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Wednesday and got a bit outspoken in condemning the Park Service's handling of veterans wanting to visit the memorial.
Some visitors to the memorial took exception to the congressman's verbal tongue-lashing of the ranger, and complained that while the ranger was merely doing her job, Congress was failing at its.
The exchange between the Republican and the ranger, led to suggestions that people outraged by the congressman's behavior post "Apologize to the ranger" messages on his Facebook page.
* About Those Park Websites
It didn't take the National Park Service long to pull the plug on its park websites once the shutdown took effect. Some Internet surfers might wonder what the deal was, particularly when you consider 1) most of the content on park web pages is static, not posted daily, and 2) U.S. Forest Service websites were still operating.
Michael Litterest, a Park Service spokesman in Washington, said the decision to shutter the websites stemmed from the personnel needed to maintain them on a daily basis.
"All of the websites for the (Interior Department) bureaus are maintained in-house by our employees. Since all of those employees have been furloughed, there is no one to maintain NPS.gov, and with approximately 1 million hits per day, the site would crash without daily maintenance," he wrote in an email. "By contrast, some government agencies contract the maintenance of their sites and would be able to keep their sites live since the contractors wouldn't be affected by the shutdown.
"Of course, the sites were not taken down, per se; the pages still exists, we just added a service level redirect," he added. "The costs of that were negligible; essentially, it is the time that it takes to build a single page. That work was done by our Washington staff on Tuesday morning as part of the shutdown procedures before they went home."
* Oil Production From The Parks
Gas production rolls on in the park system despite the shutdown. NPS photo of well at Padre Island National Seashore.
There are a small number of park system units where oil and gas production is not only allowed, but in operation. Big Thicket National Preserve and Padre Island National Seashore are two such units.
While those park units closed with the shutdown, the production did not cease.
"Oil and gas production is operated under a right-of-way, which conveys the legal right to access the sites, regardless of the status of appropriations," explained the Park Service's Mr. Litterest.
Comments
They would not have to be reopened if the Republicans didn't force their closure in the first place. That's a fact. Why did the Republicans introduce a measure after they started getting creamed in the polls, when they could have introduced the very same measure a day earlier? Where did this new love of the parks come from?
The Republicans no more forced it than did the Democrats. That is a fact.
Apparently someplace the Dems haven't been since they voted overwhelmingly to keep the parks closed.
And one of the most delicious ironies so far in the mess:
A Raleigh, NC TV station contacted the two congresspersons representing that area, and asked if they would be willing to give up their own paychecks while the pay of 800,000 federal workers was being withheld due to the shutdown. Both (one Democrat and one Republican) said they would not.
"Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) told WTVD in Raleigh, N.C. that she won’t be giving up pay during the government shutdown she and her party created because, she said, “I need my paycheck. That’s the bottom line.”
Of course it is. After all, with her $175,000 annual salary (plus plenty of perks and other expenses, including travel), she really needs her check a lot more than all those government employees.
She must have heard from just a few of her constituents, since she's since backpedaled on that statement: "...if the shutdown continued, Ellmers said she will have another option to defer in November. “I may do it at that point,” she told CNN.
You're missing the point of my objection, ecbuck. I don't have an opinion on the healthcare law either way. My point is this: because they didn't like a law that was passed or the exercise of Executive power, the Republicans decided to shut down the government instead of actually governing. If the situation were reversed, I'd have the same criticism of the Democrats.
I agree with 1000% here Jim. If the managers can't keep the business running, they shouldn't be paying themselves. And they should not be granting themselves an exemption or special benefits to the healthcare system they are forcing on the public.
This one's almost as good, Jim:
Republican Congressman Lee Terry of Nevada told the [color=#0066cc]Omaha World Herald[/color] that he “cannot handle” giving up his shutdown-earned paycheck.
“I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college, and I’ll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That’s just not going to fly.”
When asked by the newspaper whether or not he will continue to keep his paychecks, Rep. Terry answered, “Dang straight.”
EC, why is it that the House GOP feels they needed to shut down government to force a "negotiation" to change/defund/delay/demolish the ACA, which was approved by Congress, upheld by the Supreme Court, and, depending on the poll of your choice and news reports, relished by the majority (albeit slim) of the country, rather than improving it through normal legislative channels?
Justin, the healthcare law was passed four years ago. Many of the Congressmen that voted for it were voted out of office. Obama, unconstitutionally, has made many changes to its implementation. The current Congress is using its Constitutionally granted power and responsibility (all funding must originate in the house) and their obligation to their voters to make changes to the law. This is not some trivial item. Its 1/5 (and I believe the largest part) of our economy. You are basically argueing that once a law is passed it never can or should be reconsidered. I know you don't really believe that.
The Republicans, before the fact, were willing to approve the entire budget but for Obamacare where there are legitimate differences. When it came to the critical moment, they were even willing to even fund that but for two items (i.e. the questions you have refused to answer). There wasn't a single compromise on the part of Dems.
If you want to blame the Republicans because they approved of 99+% and the Dems would not bend an inch, that is your choice. All I know is that when it comes down to the issue relevant to this board - the National Parks - the Republicans voted overwhelmingly for funding them and Dems voted overwhelmingly to keep them shut when nothing else was at stake.