National parks will remain ‘generally’ open during the shutdown, but Liberty Bell doors are closed

New York – Crowds of people instructed boats to visit the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Wednesday morning without immediately closing the government which triggers the leave of about two thirds of the employees of the National Park Service.

But in Philadelphia, the country’s birthplace, tourists enjoying a net morning in the Independence shopping center were thwarted in their hope of visiting the Liberty Bell. They were refused at the entrance and could only steal eyes inside a glass pavilion.

An emergency closure plan published Tuesday evening by the Parc du Parc said that “Park roads, shares, trails and outdoor commemorative monuments will generally remain accessible to visitors.” However, given the highly reduced staff, parks without “accessible areas” will be closed during the closure. And the currently open sites could close if damage is caused to parking resources or if the garbage accumulates, the plan said.

However, with limited information offered on government websites, questions appeared through the social media sites of the Park Service, with people asking if camping licenses would still be good in places such as the Chaco Culture National Historic Park in the northwest of New Mexico and if the doors would be open in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

The leave of nearly 9,300 park employees means that the parks that remain open can only provide limited services such as life protection, goods and public security, according to the plan.

In Mississippi, the most visited cultural attraction of the State, the Vicksburg National Military Park, was closed. A non -profit group was trying to conclude an agreement to reopen it using the money given to pay the staff. In the Acadia National Park in Maine, there were no guards of parks in sight and potential hikers looking for trail cards found empty containers outside a closed reception center.

The plan has not detailed which of the park’s service is considered to be inaccessible. The Associated Press requested more details in emails and a telephone call to officials of the National Park Service and the Interior Department on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Park Service oversees the major national parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, national battlefields, national monuments such as the statue of freedom and historical sites, notably National Historical Park Independence, Home of the Liberty Bell. These attractions often serve as economic engines for neighboring communities.

Many national parks remained open during a five -week closure during Trump’s first term. Limited staff have led to vandalism, overflowing garbage, damage to natural resources and illegal all-terrain.

A group of 40 former superintendents from the National Park Service had urged the Trump administration to close the parks when closing to prevent a rehearsal of damage that occurred in 2018 and 2019. They warned that a closure could be even worse with the parks already under the pressure of a reduction in the 24% and severe budget discounts.

During a closure in 2013, the Parc service under former President Barack Obama diverted millions of visitors to its more than 400 parks, national monuments and other sites. The service estimated that the closure has led to more than $ 500 million lost to visitors nationwide. This has also caused economic damage to the gateway communities that border national parks and strongly depend on the visitors they attract.

The emergency plan allows parks to conclude agreements with states, tribes or local governments ready to make donations to keep the sites of the Open National Park.

States where national parks attract major tourism have been pressure to keep them open in previous closures, and Utah agreed to donate $ 1.7 million in 2013 to keep its national parks open. Arizona, Colorado, New York, southern Dakota and Tennessee also gave money to keep the parks with staff during previous closures.

The governor of Colorado suggested that the state could do this again this time for the Rocky Mountain National Park. But a spokesperson for the Arizona governor said last week that he could not afford to pay to keep his national parks that include the Grand Canyon.

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Brown reported Billings, Montana. Matt Rourke contributed from Philadelphia and Susan Montoya Bryan contributed to Albuquerque