Whether Rocky Mountain National Park, and other units of the National Park System, remain open during a possible government shutdown remains to be seen/Kurt Repanshek file

Whether Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Yosemite national parks and the rest of the National Park System will be open if there's a government shutdown this weekend remained an unknown Thursday, though Utah officials have announced their intention to keep the "Mighty Five" open with state dollars and Arizona's governor has said Grand Canyon National Park also will be open.

Whether Arizona and Utah, and other states that choose to do so, can unilaterally keep parks open during a shutdown remains to be seen. A decade ago, when a congressional impasse led to a shutdown in 2013, Utah, Colorado, and a few other states negotiated an agreement with the Interior Department to keep parks open with state dollars that were supposed to be reimbursed by the federal government but never were.

A shutdown could be disastrous for many states that rake in millions of tourism dollars during the popular fall season.

“We’re dismayed that our national parks are once again facing the threat of a shutdown because Congress is at risk of failing in one of its most basic duties — to fund the federal government," said John Garder, senior director, budget & appropriations, for the National Parks Conservation Association, on Wednesday. "It would mean hardship for park visitors, staff and local economies that depend on parks being open. It’s critical that Congress not just pass a short-term continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown but also work together on a funding bill that prevents the kind of unrealistic and damaging cuts proposed in the House Interior appropriations bill and gives parks the support they need and deserve.”

The face of the 2013 closure in many instances was the National Park Service, as river trips and weddings were canceled and vacations were interrupted.

The policy of closing parks during government shutdowns ended in January 2018, when the Trump administration made the decision to keep them open. The plan during that shutdown was for most National Park Service employees to be sent home, or furloughed, for the duration of the closure. Key personnel, such as law enforcement rangers and those needed to keep the power on to buildings would remain on the job. Concessions would be allowed to continue to operate, and visitors were free to enter parks.

Sinking morale among the National Park Service ranks and accumulating human waste and garbage were just some of the symptoms of that government shutdown that left many national parks open but without adequate staffing. Not so visible are the impacts being suffered in long-term environmental monitoring, work on visitor management plans and environmental impact statements, and even potential setbacks to the hiring of the next summer's seasonal rangers.

With no maintenance crews to collect trash or maintain restrooms, and no budget to pay for outside help, many parks were blighted by litter and human waste. There were reports of illegal off-road travel, metal detecting on battlefields in the park system, and damage to resources. Joshua Tree National Park in California closed for a short period during the shutdown to clean up waste and address illegal roads blazed in the park.

National Park Service staff in Washington told the Traveler on Thursday that they had no information to share regarding park operations during a possible shutdown. 

U.S. Sen. John Barasso, a Wyoming Republican who sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to keep the parks open in the event of a government shutdown. Barasso told the secretary that she could tap Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act dollars to fund the parks.

"As Secretary of the Interior, it is your responsibility to provide opportunities for people to access our parks in a way that ensures visitor health and safety, as well as providing the same opportunity for future generations," the senator told Haaland in a letter. "Both of these objectives can be accomplished through careful planning and coordination. To ensure that you are protecting public access to our public places and preventing any irreversible environmental degradation during a shutdown, I ask that you keep the parks and public lands open and accessible."

During the 2018-19 partial government shutdown then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt directed the Park Service to use FLREA dollars to keep parks open, but later that year the federal Government Accountability Office said that move was not allowed. The GAO said Interior violated both the FLREA statute by using its revenues for a purpose other than the act directed, and the Antideficiency Act by spending funds "in excess or in advance of available appropriations, unless otherwise authorized by law."

In other words, while Interior expected Congress to replace the FLREA funds in the Park Service's operations budget once the shutdown ended, which indeed Congress did after the budget impasse with President Trump was resolved, GAO nevertheless said the dollars couldn't be spent on daily operations during the partial shutdown unless OKed by Congress because the Park Service did not have an appropriation for operations at the time.

Last week Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the state would again support the Park Service if needed to keep Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion national parks open.

"We are all in agreement that it's worth keeping the parks open,” Cox said. ”It's so important to these shoulder communities that rely on the parks as their lifeblood. And so we are going to step up and do that again."

In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs also has said her state would use Arizona Lottery revenues to see that Grand Canyon National Park remains open in the event of a government shutdown.

"Arizona should not have to suffer because of the federal government’s inaction,” Hobbs said. “The Grand Canyon is a pillar of our state and provides good paying jobs for hundreds of Arizonans while showcasing one of the seven natural wonders of the world to those who visit.”